Quills
by Isilithix
Summary: An attempt at Brown Phantom's 'Hidden Bloodline' challenge. Sometimes, kekkei genkai are well known and well documented. Other times, they aren't; and their users must learn the hard way how to control their new found abilities. Rated M to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

Quills

* * *

This is a response to _**Brown Phantom**_'s '_**Hidden Bloodline**_' Challenge, which I will be calling the 'Unexplained Kekkei Genkai' Challenge; mainly because the other will confuse me(as I do have my own '_**Hidden Bloodline**_' story in process, and has been for nearly a year and I do work on it once in a while). Anyway, what it means is that Naruto somehow gains a Kekkei Genkai, be it a latent bloodline that he himself unlocks or a bloodline that the Kyuubi sees fit to 'bless' him with or a problem with the seal.

Here are the rules for the challenge(copy and pasted from _**Brown Phantom**_'s profile):

**Challenge: Hidden Bloodline**

We've all seen fics where Naruto inherits or gains a kekkei genkai and gets a scroll, relative, or a knowing teacher to teach him how to properly use it. So what if he got a kekkei genkai but he had _none_ of those things to help him learn what to do with it? And he had to learn how to use it on his own?

Things to happen in this challenge:

One, Naruto can only have one bloodline. Which bloodline he gets is writer's choice and can be a canon bloodline or a fanfic-original one, but he can only have one. The more unique the better. Ones I use in Students of the Snake are allowable if writer asks first.

Two, how he gets the bloodline can happen one of two ways. He can:

A. Inherit it from one of his parents or grandparents. In this scenario, Naruto can't have immediate access to any family scrolls or notes from his parents explaining to him the nature of his bloodline and what he can do with it. He can eventually but not right away or within the first half of story. Too soon would defeat the purpose of this challenge. Reasons why are up to the writer. Be creative but reasonable. Possible ideas to use are they were all destroyed, they didn't know Naruto would gain one, or no one knows where that info is kept.

B. Have the Kyuubi give it to him. In this scenario, the fox may decide Naruto is better off with a bloodline to give him some sort of advantage over others. If it's a friendly Kyuubi, maybe he/she wants to give Naruto a helping hand or make amends for him having a bad life. If it's not a friendly Kyuubi, maybe he/she does it just to make sure Naruto survives or has a better chance of survivng. Another option is that another seal placed on Naruto, preferably a badly-made one, acts up thanks to Kyuubi's chakra and ends up giving Naruto a bloodline unintentionally. Eitherway, Kyuubi doesn't or can't tell Naruto everything about the bloodline. Reasons why are up to the writer. Be creative. Possible reasons to use are Kyuubi doesn't know that much about it, isn't capable of talking to him at the time, or just doesn't want to.

Three, the preferred time for him to get/awaken his bloodline is anywhere from the night he became a genin to the Sasuke Retrieval arc.

Four, Naruto can know two or three things about how to use his bloodline in the very beginning, but nothing that would make him competent in using it or higher than basic lessons. How he learns this is up to the writer.

Five, NaruHina is the strongly preferred pairing for this challenge. Harems can be done but Hinata must be the main girl and no more than five girls total. Lemons are allowed but are not mandatory. No yaoi whatsoever or gender-bending to make men into women so Naruto can be paired with them. FemHaku is the one exception.

I actually have two ideas, but I will only be posting one at the moment. Maybe later, after this story; I'll post the second one as a 'What if he had this Kekkei Genkai instead of(insert name here)…' And actually, I may do that. Why? Because I want to do two different varieties for the challenge. I'm not going to tell what those are, sorry; but I need to keep them in my mind(computer/on paper).

Now, some of you may be asking(if you've seen my profile/read my stories or A/N or reviews in the past) why I'm writing a challenge where the romance is strongly preferred as a Naruto/Hinata story; seeing as I dislike the pairing with a passion. Well, the reason why I'm writing this, is because I like the idea; the premises, of Naruto getting a power; but not knowing how to use it. Plus, I've already asked _**Brown Phantom **_and he told me that while he would prefer it to be a Naruto/Hinata story; should there be romance; it does not have to be so, unless it is a harem story(which this will not be-not because I don't want Naruto and Hinata together, but because of my own; personal issues with the option(didn't use to have one a couple of years ago, but now…)). All he asks is that I don't use her at all(I'm guessing he means in any sort of romantic/sexual ways, which is not a problem. There will be no flirty-flirty between the two or anything else like that, but if he means at all, then I can do that too.) and that I don't bash her.

Now, on to the usual, boring disclaimer and whatnot:

I don't own Naruto. At this point in time, based on the Manga and the disappointment that it has turned into; I don't think I want to. But I would love a new high powered, gaming laptop though. Oh! And I would also love for all of my bills and debt to disappear forever and never come back to haunt me.

* * *

Naruto frowned angrily as he walked away from the edge of the Hokage Monument; a pair of paint cans in his hands, each with two brushes; rubbing his right forearm against his stomach as he walked away from the edge. For the last few days his arms, hands and fingers had been burning off and on, as if invisible, miniature fires had been lit and left to smolder. Waves of stinging pain had also attacked the same areas of his body; but it wasn't nearly as frequent as the burning sensation had been. _'Did I brush up against some Poison Ivy?'_ Poison Ivy was prevalent in the forests that surrounded the village; and it wasn't unheard of a stray plant or two growing within the village.

The sound of stampeding feet stopped his thoughts, and instinctively; the blonde snapped his head toward the oncoming sound. There, less than thirty feet; bounding up the path that lead from the bottom of the monument to the top; and the observation station seated there, were several Chuunin; all of whom were red faced, whether it be from exhaustion from running up all twenty flights of stairs or the anger that they felt as they saw his work. "Oh shit…" he exclaimed as two of the six visible Chuunin made a bee-line straight toward him. Swinging his body, paint buckets and brushes as well; the blonde boy turned himself around and dashed toward the observation station.

"Get him!" one of the Chuunin yelled as she joined her two male counterparts in chasing the blonde haired, orange clad; paint bucket wielding Academy student.

Running as quickly as he could, Naruto reached the observation station and slid around the far left corner of the building and began to look for a place to either hide or slip under to hide from the Chuunin on his tail. Looking around, the blonde haired pre-teen couldn't find anything. Hearing the Chuunin advance on his position, Naruto's heart began to beat faster. Adrenaline pumping, the blonde looked toward the edge of the monument and walked toward it quickly. Looking over the edge, he gulped.

Down, about twelve or so feet, was the top of the Nidaime's head, and with it; a small hiding spot created by the stone that made up three of the Nidaime's hair. The only problem was that if he slipped, he would fall; over two hundred feet and die. He didn't want to die.

"There he is!" the female Chuunin shouted as she and two others rounded the observation station. "Whoa!" she immediately called out, holding up a hand once she saw where the boy was and how close he was to the edge of the mountain. Naruto glanced at her oddly, wondering why she had stopped her comrades from advancing toward him. The other remaining three Chuunin rounded the opposite edge of the building and they too came to a halt; fearful of what the blonde might do. "Step away from the edge, Uzumaki!" the woman called out, a fearful tone in her voice.

'_What the?'_ the blonde orphan asked himself as he stared at the woman in confusion. _'What? Does she think that I'm going to jump?'_ He looked back down at the Nidaime's head and gulped. _'Oh…Right…I was thinking about jumping…Gah! I'm a moron!'_ A shot of pain raced up his right arm, causing him to flinch and stumble backwards slightly. His right heel teetered on the edge, sending fear through both Naruto and all of the Chuunin present. Luckily for him, Naruto leaned forward and swung the two paint cans out in front of him, their weight propelling him forward, and away from the edge of the mountain. A series of relief filled sighs filled the air. _'That was close!'_ Naruto told himself, glaring at his right arm for a split second before remembering where he was, what he had done not even ten minutes ago and who had surrounded him. He glanced up at the six Chuunin and found them placing hands over their hearts, their heads held low. A grin broke out, taking over his face. "…Here!" he swung one of the paint cans, brushes and all; at the group of Chuunin to his right, covering the woman and the two men in purple paint. Using the moment of shock and confusion that he had just created, the blonde blitzed them; easily breaking passed them as he ran toward the stairs that descended into the village below.

"Grr!" the woman snarled loudly, her arms at her side, hands balled into angry fists. "AFTER HIM!" she roared as she and the five men moved to continue pursuing the blonde.

00oo00  
Somewhere in the Village  
00oo00

Naruto laughed loudly as he evaded two of the five male Chuunin who had managed to find him walking in broad daylight, paint can still in his hand; in front of the Ichiraku Ramen Bar. The two had been chasing him for nearly ten minutes now, and while the pricks of pain and the searing, almost fire like sensation did keep him from running his fastest, Naruto was still able to dodge, parry and evade their assaults on his person. "Can't catch me!" he taunted as he rounded a corner, leaving the village proper and entering onto one of the residential roads. The two Chuunin growled loudly, swore at him; and sped up. Grinning like a buffoon; Naruto saw a chance to lose the two men. A large section of wooden fence was less than fifty feet away. Remembering that he had his cloak; Naruto grinned as he thought of a plan to shake the two Chuunin.

00oo00  
A Couple Hundred Feet Behind the Two Chuunin…  
00oo00

Himari narrowed her paint splattered brows as she ran after two of her fellow Chuunin as they slowly closed in on their blonde haired, orange wearing target. To her left, a person landed next to her; she recognized him. "Iruka?" she snapped. The brown haired man looked at her briefly, a scowl set on his face. "What are you doing?"

"Hunting down a runaway clown…You?" he replied. Himari's own scowl deepened.

"Hunting down that same clown." She stated. The brown haired man nodded. "…Do you mind if I make him scrub my clothes clean before you haul him off to the Academy?"

"Unfortunately, I need to be back as soon as possible." He stated. Himari's scowl deepened even more. "However, after he's done with his school work and cleaning off the Hokage Monument, I'll be sure to bring him to your apartment." The woman nodded, a feral grin quickly forming. "So, how many of you are chasing him? Just you three?"

"No…There were three more…" she trailed off, noting that her two teammates rounded the corner, around the wooden fence. "…They must have lost him."

Iruka shook his head in disagreement. "Naruto may not be the smartest kid in the world; and he's definitely not the best student in the history of the village…But he is fast, tricky and can think on his feet. He's not someone who you want to be chasing through the village; not with his knowledge on where all the best hiding places are. If anything, _he_ lost them; not the other way around." Himari nodded slowly. Suddenly, less than fifty feet away from the corner of the wooden fence, the Academy instructor pointed at a small orange speck that could be seen through a small hole in the fence. "That's him."

"How can you tell?" the kunoichi asked her shinobi counterpart. Iruka snorted lightly.

"No one else in the village wears orange clothes as bright and hideous as that jumpsuit that Naruto wears…" he trailed off for a second, his eyes narrowing slightly. "…That; and I have a sixth sense when it comes to that boy…" Himari blinked in confusion but let the matter drop.

00oo00

Naruto laughed loudly as the two Chuunin ran past his hiding place; which happened to be right behind a small tarp like item that had been painted to look like the fence behind him. Rubbing his head and laughing victoriously, the blonde smiled as he walked away from the fence. "Idiots!" he barked out. "You can't catch the Great Uzumaki Naruto that easily!" His eyes closed as a large smile bloomed. The sudden darkening of the area around him and the coolness that touched his body as shadows quickly overwhelmed his position didn't go unnoticed. _'Oh shit.'_

"Naruto!"

There were two of them, one very familiar; and one slightly familiar. He opened his blue eyes and found the Chuunin woman he had thrown the purple paint on earlier standing over him like a hawk. To her left was a very familiar, and very pissed off Academy sensei.

"Hehe!" he giggled sheepishly, suddenly feeling very small. "H-Hiya, Iruka-Sensei…" A strong hand gripped the back of his white T-Shirt and lifted him up off the ground. "Wha!" he yelped.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" the angry man snarled at the blonde; who hung from his hand helplessly, like a fish that was dumb enough and hungry enough to bite at a baited hook, and then too weak to fight the fisherman and the retracting reel.

"…U-Uh…" the blonde began, trying to think of something to say. A quick shake shut him up.

"First; we go to the Academy; Naruto." The angry man stated slowly; "Then _you_ clean the monument; and then, after that; you are going to scrub all of the paint off of Himari-San's clothes…understand me?" the man's narrowed eyes made it hard for the blonde to disagree. Nodding, the man nodded sharply as well; in a way that screamed 'Good'.

00oo00

Arms and fingers on fire, his stomach upset from the pain that coursed through his body; Naruto continued scrubbing the paint out of Himari's clothes. Off to the side, sipping on a cup of tea; stood both Iruka and Himari; conversing lightly to each other.

'_Sure, sure! Laugh at each other's jokes while I'm over here, standing over a wash tub washing her damn clothes by hand!'_ he cast a quick glance at the two Chuunin; his blue eyes narrowed dangerously at them. _'It's not like I feel like crap or anything!'_

Maybe if he had voiced how he was feeling? _'No!'_ he shook his head and began to scrub faster and harder; ignoring the pain as best he could. _'Iruka-Baka will send me to the nurse or something! I'll just get this done and then go home-He doesn't need to know about it! Yeah!'_

00oo00

"A-Are you sure you don't want any ramen, Naruto?" Iruka asked his blonde haired student; wondering if the blonde was okay or not. The blonde nodded.

"I…I'm too tired for ramen today, Iruka-Sensei…" the blonde replied, waving the man's unspoken concern away. "…My arms hurt, my hands hurt…I just want to go to sleep." Iruka's worried frown disappeared slowly and a small smile replaced it. He slapped the blonde's back, sending painful waves of sharp, pin-prick like pain racing up and down the blonde's back; unaware of how his student felt at that point in time.

"I guess this will teach you a lesson then, hmm?" he asked the blonde; who frowned. "Don't paint the monument-or fellow Konoha Ninja-if you don't want to do the time." The blonde grumbled under his breath. Iruka's smile widened. "Well, I'll let you go home then…After all, you'll need your rest if you hope to pass the exam tomorrow!"

00oo00  
The Next Morning  
00oo00

It took all he had not to scream in pain as he sat down in his designated seat in the classroom at the Academy. The painful, burning; pin prickling sensations were back and it was worse than it had ever been, _'All because Iruka-Baka made me scrub the stupid monument…'_ a faint blush creped onto the boy's face as his mind replayed a portion of the previous night's events; scrubbing off Himari-San's bra; were some of the purple paint had stained through her shirt and soaked into her underwear. He shook his head violently; trying to shake the memory, only to wish that he hadn't as new waves of pain flared up. Clenching his eyes shut, the blonde gently laid his head down on the surface of his desk; somehow hoping that the cool desktop would be able to cure his pain.

It didn't.

'_I hope this goes away before it's my turn to take the test…The last thing I need is for this stupid pain to cause me to fail…'_

00oo00  
Genin Examination  
00oo00

"-wo Bunshin. Got that, Naruto?" Iruka asked as he stared at the blonde, his eyebrows furrowed as he watched his most annoying, most interesting and more importantly, most confusing student fidget in a way that made him think that the boy was in pain; but desperately trying to hide it from everyone. It wasn't working; he noted as he glanced over at Mizuki; who also stared at the boy oddly. "Are you okay, Naruto?" he voiced his thought. The question brought the boy's eyes snapping to his brown eyes.

"I'm fine." Came the blonde's terse response. Frowning, but ignoring the blonde's tone; the Chuunin waved for the blonde to continue. He nodded, rubbed his arms in an almost desperate manner against his stomach for a couple of seconds; and then took up position and started to summon his chakra.

The floor started to shake and the pictures on the walls started to shake as a blue(1) hue surrounded the blonde's body. Spider web like cracks appeared in the paint that decorated the walls as the blonde concentrated. Both Chuunin stared at the boy in disbelief. _'S…So much chakra…He's going to overdo it!'_ Iruka thought to himself. Never had the brown haired Chuunin seen an Academy student summon so much chakra that it became visible, shook the floor; paintings on the wall and caused the paint on the walls to crack like ice covering a puddle on a cold day in winter.

"_**Bunshin no Jutsu!"**_

00oo00  
Later That Afternoon  
00oo00

Mizuki spotted the blonde haired boy trudging through the village, more than likely heading toward his apartment; with his head hung low. He couldn't tell whether or not if the boy was depressed because he had failed the exam for the third time in a row; or if it was because he was still in pain; like he had been earlier during the exam. _'Not that it really matters if he's in pain.'_ The silver haired man thought to himself, _'All he has to do is bite after the worm.'_ "Hey!" he called out. The boy seemed to ignore him as he walked through the streets. Frowning, the white haired man wondered if the boy hadn't heard him. He tried again, this time louder; "Hey! Naruto!" the boy snapped his head up and looked for him. He jogged over to the boy and placed a hand on his right shoulder. The touch made the boy jump slightly, but Mizuki ignored it.

"H-Hey, Mizuki-Sensei…" the boy greeted him, offering a smile that the Chuunin immediately picked out as a fake smile. "What's up?"

"Don't blame Iruka, Naruto-Kun." He began. "He may be a bit harsh and may have been a bit forceful, but he's only got your best intentions in mind." The blonde frowned.

"It's that damn Bunshin!" the blonde griped, not caring in the slightest about the people around them as they walked through the street. "No matter how many times I try it, no matter how long I practice it, I can't do it!" Mizuki gave the boy's right shoulder a sympathetic pat or two.

"I'm sure you'll get it soon enough, Naruto-Kun." He stated.

"I wanted to graduate _today_ Mizuki-Sensei!" the boy stated loudly. "I wanted to become a Genin and go on missions! Beat up bandits, rescue pretty princesses in distress!" the boy's arms flew up toward the sky, nearly knocking his right fist into Mizuki's face-thankfully, the Chuunin had the sense to move his face to his right to avoid getting nailed by the boy's fist.

"…You know, Naruto-Kun…" Mizuki began, casting a glance around himself as he began lowering the proverbial line and baited hook in front of the pre-teen. "…There is another way…"

"…Another way…Another way, what?" Mizuki smiled brightly at the blonde.

"To become a Genin, of course…"

"…Tell me!"

00oo00  
Several Hours Later  
00oo00

Naruto stared sleepily down at the scroll that he had laid down on the forest floor; spread out in front of him. He had, for the last hour or so; been dangerously close to falling asleep, but had kept himself awake through sheer force of will alone. That; while a tiring thing to do, turned out to be a good thing; the terms and conditions of the makeup exam were that he had to steal the Forbidden Scroll from the Hokage's office; which he had already done; despite the pain that continued to attack his body. The other conditions were that he had to be near the training cabin, south of the village; that was used by academy students from time to time; and that he had to learn at least one jutsu.

The scroll was full of jutsu; but save for two, Naruto couldn't understand them in any way, shape or form. A lot of them revolved around sacrifice, super speed and time bending. It made him feel even stupider than he knew he was. The only two he could understand, were a Genjutsu; which he immediately cast aside, remembering a tiny portion of Sakura's explanation yesterday about Genjutsu; something about needing really good chakra control-and that if you couldn't make a single Bunshin, then Genjutsu was an impossibility-that comment was more or less directed at him, and if it weren't for the glare she had sent at him while she spoke; he might has mistaken it as a piece of _helpful_ advice. The other jutsu in the scroll, was a type of Bunshin; and despite fearing that he wouldn't be able to do it, it was the only jutsu that scroll had that he could understand properly.

So, sitting down on the ground; staring at either the scroll or the inside of his eyelids for seconds at a time; for nearly two hours, the blonde had studied and studied; going over all the notes that were written down on the scroll-there weren't that many-and going through the hand signs for the technique. He had, from time to time; tried the jutsu, but the clones had either turned out just as bad-if not worse than-the original Bunshin technique taught at the academy. He did notice however, that some of the latter attempts were getting better and better; albeit slowly.

As he forced his burning hands and fingers through the seals once more, ignoring the pain as best as he could; the blonde haired pre-teen failed to notice the brown haired man who had landed on a tree limb several yards to his left.

"…On…One more shot…" Naruto told himself as he pushed himself through the jutsu. Summoning his chakra; which felt like boiling water flowing through his veins rather than blood, the blonde had sucked in a breath of air when the faint moonlight that had bathed him all night thus far, turned to a dark, almost dangerous shade of black. He fumbled his seals and mispronounced the words of the jutsu as he turned his head in a effort to see what had lumbered up behind him while he trained. The resulting explosion sent the scroll, himself and the shadow behind him sprawling several feet away from the epicenter of the chakra based explosion. "Gah!"

"Gah!" his pain filled yell was echoed by an older, deeper and more aggravated from his left. Looking up from his resting spot, he noted the familiar figure of his academy sensei, Iruka; lying on the ground, groaning and testing portions of his body; like his neck, hands, arms, legs and feet.

"I-Iruka-Sensei?" Naruto asked, his voice low and hoarse. "Wha-"

The academy instructor glared harshly at him, a look so fierce that it shut the blonde up almost instantly. "Naruto!" the man snapped loudly; a dangerous edge lingering on his voice, "what are you doing stealing from the village?" mismatched eyes narrowed in confusion. "Why on earth would you steal from the Hokage?" the man continued. "I know you're angry about not passing the exam; but this is most certainly _not_ the way to become a Genin! This is one of the quickest ways to become a Nuke-Nin!" the boy's eyes widened to their fullest as the shock bombarded him completely.

"B-B-" Neither the academy sensei nor the blonde had time to say anything else as several kunai rained down from the surrounding trees; cutting through the air toward them. Instinctively; the older of the two in the tiny clearing near the cabin pulled out his own kunai and jumped in front of the blonde; blocking several of the incoming kunai, saving the blonde, but leaving himself open to several of the flying blades as they sliced into his back, legs and left shoulder.

"Phooey…I hope that I'd catch you off guard, Iruka…I guess you weren't given the title of Chuunin out of _pity_ after all…" came an all too familiar voice from one of the surrounding trees. Both the wounded Chuunin and the pre-teen guided their eyes toward a tall oak and found the white haired Mizuki smiling down at them, one of two large shuriken hanging down from his right hand as he crouched on the large limb he had perched on. The sound of rustling filled the small clearing and two other figures appeared, enclosing the wounded Chuunin and Naruto within the small clearing. Both were tall and lanky; and both seemed to be extremely dirty; rusted Iwa headbands dully reflecting part of the moon's rays as they walked toward the two slowly.

"M-Mizuki?" Iruka gasped out in shock and confusion as he looked from the two Iwa-Nin to his academy colleague. The man in question smiled widely, the look in his eyes cold and yet; at the same time, alive with a burning, borderline insane; hatred. "Why?"

"Two reasons, really; Iruka-Kun…" the white haired man began, waving his right hand and large shuriken at the same time; signaling for the two Iwa-Nin to advance closer to the two in the clearing, "Fame…and money. Two things that this village robbed from me two years ago when they forced me into village arrest." He hoped down to the forest floor and sauntered over to the brown haired man, stopping a foot away from the Chuunin. "You recall my last mission, don't you; Iruka?" the white haired Chuunin asked. The academy sensei nodded slowly, ignoring the pain the small weapons had caused him. "How my teammates 'disappeared' and then 'showed up dead'?" again, the brown haired man nodded. Mizuki leaned closer to him and placed his mouth several inches away from his left ear. _"They didn't disappear, Iruka-Kun…They were killed…"_ a hitching gasp escaped Iruka's mouth as the shuriken in Mizuki's right hand trailed up the brown haired man's left leg; the furthermost tip slicing through the clothing and armor and finally skin like a hot knife cutting through butter. _"…That's right, Iruka-Kun…I did it…"_ he pulled the shuriken away from the loyal academy sensei's leg and smirked nastily. "History, as you no doubt know; has a way of…repeating itself…" the white haired man pulled back from Iruka and turned his attention to the battered scroll on the ground and then lastly; the blonde who had procured it for him.

"You've done well, Naruto-Kun…" he admitted. "Even for all of my skills, I wouldn't have had the stealth and the luck to steal something of such value and importance to the village out from underneath the Hokage's nose like you…" he snapped his fingers and the two Iwa-Nin rushed forward and grabbed the blonde; one holding one arm and the other holding the other. Together they pulled him away from Iruka and held him out like a training dummy. Wriggling like a fish out of water, the blonde tried to escape the of the two Iwa-Nin who were holding him up like a scarecrow; but found that he was far too weak to break free-the fruitless struggle amused both of the Iwa-Nin as well as Mizuki. Walking toward the blonde slowly, "Now, what to do with you; eh, Naruto-Kun?" the white haired man wondered aloud, his dark undertone not going unnoticed by anyone; including the blonde haired pre-teen suspended in mid-air. "I know!" the Chuunin exclaimed, snapping his fingers and slamming his right hand into his open left palm; "I'll tell you a secret, a secret that everyone in the village knows, save for you; those who are one or two years older than you and those younger than yourself…Do you want to know what it is?" Naruto shook his head slightly. "Are you sure? I mean, it is about _you_ after all…I thought you'd like to know it." The blonde's eyes widened. He, of course; hadn't known about a secret that involved himself…He cast a glance to the wounded Sensei who had tried and failed to protect him moments earlier. The man's face was alit with both pain, fear and…shame? He looked back to Mizuki, a frown set in place. "I thought so…Curiosity killed the cat…Or, in this case; killed the fox."

"You see, eleven years ago; soon to be twelve, the greatest of all the Bijuu attacked our fair village; for no reason-but of course, you should know about this; we've only covered this lesson about seven times so far this year." The white haired man cast a dark look over at the bleeding man on the ground, who flushed slightly. "And as you know; it attacked on October Ninth and wasn't defeated until October Tenth…" the white haired Chuunin was once again looking at Naruto. "You…You were born on October Tenth…The same year that the Kyuubi attacked the village." The blonde narrowed his eyes in confusion; wondering why the traitorous man was giving him a history lesson rather than the secret he promised to tell him. He opened his mouth, but Mizuki closed what little gap there was between them; and stuck one of his fingers over his mouth, pressing harshly against his lips; preventing him from interrupting. "If you're going to interrupt, Naruto-Kun; then I'm not going to tell you the rest of the secret…Understand?" the blonde grunted, but nodded nonetheless. "Good."

"You were born on the very night that the Kyuubi was defeated…" Naruto felt one of the Iwa-Nin twitch and cocked his head the best he could to see why the man had flinched. Mizuki's finger turned into a tri-fingered grip and grabbed him by the chin and wrenched him back to look into his eyes. "…I'm not done." He snapped. "…So I'd like to have your undivided attention on me…" the man took a breath of air before continuing with the tale he had to tell; "The secret that revolves solely around you, Naruto-Kun; is the fact that in truth; the Yondaime didn't kill the Kyuubi; no-no…If he, a mere man; could have killed the Kyuubi battle; then other nations would have done so to the demons that had attacked their villages…No, instead; he injured the demon with an unknown jutsu and with a brilliant white-purple flash and a massive wave of chakra; the Kyuubi vanished, the Yondaime Hokage was dead, face first on the ground; mouth full of blood, mud and grass; and you, lying on a stone alter; surrounded by candles…" Mizuki leaned in closer and rested his mouth near Naruto's left ear and spoke softly; _"The Kyuubi never died, Naruto-Kun...Do you want to know what happened to it? Why you're always picked on, made fun of, why no one; not even Iruka-Sensei likes you?"_ the blonde managed to gulp down his fear and gave a half nod. Mizuki's smile widened. _"The Kyuubi didn't die…Instead, the Yondaime forced it to change bodies…With a small, blonde haired; purple eyed baby with whisker marks on his cheeks."_ Naruto felt himself take in a sharp breath of air, and felt his body shaking furiously. The affair made the white haired Chuunin in front of him laugh loudly. Standing up to his full height, suddenly appearing much more intimidating; the man opened his mouth once more; "Not as dumb as you'd like us to think, eh; Kyuubi?"

"K-Kyuubi?" Naruto breathed out, frantic. The man nodded. The sounds left the world as the beating of his heart quickly filled his ears…And then, like an angry bee protecting its hive; the pain that had been plaguing him for the last few days started increasing, tiny pin-pricks turning into stabs and the burning sensation changing to liquid fire. The blonde was in such a state of shock, fear and pain; that he didn't even realize that the Iwa-Nin who had twitched earlier at the mentioning of the Kyuubi; had dropped him to the ground and had started to shout at Mizuki. His heartbeat quickened rapidly and the world around him began to spin.

* * *

What's up? Been a while, hmm?

Yeah, a long break is what I needed; along with finding a job that doesn't have a woman who acts like a pissed off six year old throwing a temper tantrum 24/7; as well as just making some money, has done me a bit of good. I'm still not ready to post anything related to _**Kitty**_ or _**Lieutenant's Lieutenant**_ at this time. I'm working on a lot of stuff, these included; but they aren't my primary focus at this point in time.

This is, as stated above; is a challenge fic, which I have written after finding the challenge idea/info on _**Brown Phantom**_'s profile page. This will not have a regular update rate, as I write when I feel like it; not because I feel like I should write something every day. Now, this is only one part of this challenge…I have another idea I'm working on, with the same base challenge; only with several twists. It won't be up for quite some time, but I thought I'd let you know anyway. By the way, I started writing this quite a while ago, and finished it several days ago; but decided to jump into chapter 2 before posting it. Chapter 2 won't be out for a while, just to let you know.

I won't give you any hints, at least I don't plan on doing so anyway; so please don't ask. So, if you want to know what's going to happen later on, keep reading.

I am working, and while my hours will drop here in a few days because it will no longer be Christmas season(I hate that holiday. I like the meaning, as it's based off of my own religion, but I hate the fan-fare brought up by companies and the like. The meaning of Christmas is NOT rush to a store two/three/four days before Christmas, drive around the parking lot for hours on end trying to find a parking spot close to the doors(you won't find one) and then try to run the Cart Pushers down because you're pissed that you weren't smart enough to buy your items before the start of the Christmas season and can't find what you want. I've don't absolutely nothing to you, but because of your anger; I have injured my knee slightly; ensuring that you didn't run me over. To the two people who nearly killed me yesterday, go fuck your selves with a rusty iron pike, and then drink a glass of piss and shattered glass. That is all.)-my hours will go back up eventually; and my time to write stuff will be stifled once again.

Anyway, next update won't be for a while, so I'll say this: I hope you enjoyed and I hope you have a wonderful Christmas or, in the advent that you don't celebrate Christmas; I hope that you all have a wonderful End of Year.

Write at you all later.

Isilithix


	2. Chatper 2

Quills

* * *

This story is rated 'M' for violence, blood, possible character death(eventual character death), language, suggestive themes and scenes and also because I said so. If you object to any of these, please either stop reading or reframe from commenting about it. At least I labeled it as 'M' rather than 'K+' like a lot of people do.

* * *

Tai and Gin, Chuunin ranked shinobi from Iwagakure; stared at the white haired man named 'Mizuki'. He was, as he professed when he had met them two nights before in an unmarked cave that had at one time housed a bear; though, according to Mizuki, the bear had been killed when he was a young boy as a safety precaution; a Konoha born shinobi looking to break away from the Leaf and make his own name in the world.

They should have known that there was something wrong with the man when he told them of his plan.

The man's plan first relied on the failure of a young boy whose grades had been suffering ever since he started at the Konoha Shinobi Academy when he was six years old. He had taken the Genin Exam twice before and had failed both times-though now he had mastered two of the three trivial techniques that the Konoha academy demanded their students to know-but had never been able to create a single clone, let alone two.

After the boy failed the exam, Mizuki told them that he was sure that the boy would; as he had the previous times he had failed the exam, mope about the village, not wanting to be seen or ridiculed by his classmates. He would find the boy and then fill him in on a fake method to become a Genin-stealing one of the most sought after artifacts that Konohagakure had within its Kage Tower: The Sacred Scroll of Sealing-more commonly known as the Scroll of Seals-a treasure that would make the Tsuchikage sing like a cat in heat.

After the boy obtained the scroll, Mizuki told them that he was going to instruct the boy to head toward the shack that they now stood in front of. Mizuki planned to reveal himself first and then, when he ordered; they would appear to help deal with the boy and anyone else who appeared to help the boy if they discovered them.

It was supposed to be a Trick-Kill-Snatch and Flee kind of job…but what it had turned into; was something much more dangerous, more so than just being as close to Konoha's walls as they were; especially with patrols out and about; looking for the small blonde who had shown up with the scroll.

Neither Tai nor Gin thought that Mizuki was a smart man; nor a particularly sane one. His constant smirking and his mumbled daydreams full of fame and infamy had kept them company from the cave to the shack and while he left to get into position had proved that the man was mentally unstable. However, pay was pay; no matter if the client's mind was half melted by crack-pot dreams. Now, however, as they stared at the white haired man who sauntered over to the fallen scroll; that crack-pot smirk etching into his face, they knew that they should have left the man's request as soon as they discovered his insane ramblings.

When the man who had hired them let slip the knowledge that the boy was a Jinchuuriki; the two Iwa-Nin flipped.

In hindsight, throwing the boy to the ground probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, considering the fact that the boy was the Jinchuuriki of _the_ strongest Bijuu in existence; but it was better than actively trying to kill him and awaking the demonic energy that coursed through his body; like they had been initially hired to do.

Growing up in Iwa, hearing the tales of their own Jinchuuriki; hearing about their conflicts, their strife and of course; their destructive capabilities; made the two men quiver in fear of the boy who lay on the ground; struggling and groaning, trying to lift his head and his body.

Tai sent a look over to Gin and, through narrowed eyes; nodded. Gin nodded back silently. Together, they took a few steps away from the Jinchuuriki-and a few steps closer to the bastard who had knowingly forced them to piss off a boy with enough power to level an entire village should he be provoked long enough.

"What the fuck is the meaning of this, Mizuki?" Tai barked as he edged closer to the white haired man; who stopped his saunter and glanced over his back at Tai and Gin. "You said nothing about the boy being a Jinchuuriki…"

"…I didn't?" Mizuki asked, feigning confusion. The feint, if used on somebody who hadn't been a vested warrior of the shadows with many years of reading in between the lines, may have worked. But because the two men _were_ ninja and had spent many years reading between the lines…and the grin that quickly broke out on Mizuki's face only seconds after asking his question; the act fell through quickly. "My bad…" he apologized in a mocking tone. "It must have just…slipped my mind…"

Face contorting with anger, Gin opened his mouth and dug into the white haired bastard. "You Dumbass!" he barked. "Do you have any clue what you're doing? With what you're screwing around with?" Mizuki's response was to cease grinning and shrug.

"Does it matter?" the man asked, bringing his left hand to his ear and began to pick at it, clearly uninterested in what Gin or Tai had to say. "I mean, the boy got the scroll; Iruka's as good as dead and the boy's about to meet the Headsman…Who cares what Konoha does?" He paused and gave the duo a quick glance-over before narrowing his eyes. "Don't tell me that you're scared? Two big, strong; _proud_ Iwa-Nin like you two; are afraid of Konohagakure running you down for killing one or two of members of their village? Please."

"…What the _fuck_ are you talking about, you stupid Moron?" Gin shouted, leaning his head forward slightly as he shouted at the white haired Chuunin. "I'm not afraid of Konoha! Neither of us are!" he pointed at Naruto, who had; for a time, given up in trying to push himself up. "That kid's a Jinchuuriki-someone with the ability to destroy entire _villages-_and you're standing here talking about killing him as if you were cutting cheese or fruit!"

"You kill that kid, Mizuki; and the only thing you'll end up doing is subjugating yourself to a world of hell before he kills you!" Tai added. "Trust us; we've seen Jinchuuriki use their powers before, and if there's one thing that will provoke the demon's ire and power that lurks within them, is trying to kill their host."

"…Whatever…" the white haired man stated with a casual shrug. "If you two want to flake, then so be it. Leave. You won't get paid though and you won't get any recogni-"

"Haha!" Tai's disbelieving chuckle ripped through the air, stopping the white haired man's speech. "You think that _money_ and _recognition_ are enough to keep us here to be skewered by a Jinchuuriki?"

"Do what you want, Mizuki-die if you want to! Because if you really think that you can just try and _kill_ a Jinchuuriki without consequence; then you're far stupider and far crazier than we originally thought you were!" Tai crouched, Gin copying him. "Have fun, Mizuki; I hope that the kid tears you in half!" With that said, both Iwa-Nin jumped up into the canopy, leaving the crazy man alone with the Jinchuuriki and the downed academy instructor.

"…Pussies…" spat Mizuki as he listened to his hired help flee. "Too scared to even finish a job…" he turned to Naruto and sighed. "I guess it's just you and me, Naruto-Kun…" he fletched a kunai out from his weapons pouch and walked over to the boy-a murderous glint in his eyes.

-o-

Still face down, the boy groaned painfully as he tried to push himself up.

The shouting was over and done with, even through the spinning world he could tell that somehow; whatever Mizuki had told him-about being the Kyuubi; had made the two Iwa-Nin extremely mad. Grunting painfully; Naruto managed to push himself into a position where he could finally see what was going on.

…He kind of wish he hadn't.

Stalking toward him, like a jungle cat; was Mizuki, kunai in hand and a sick grin plastered on his face. The man's eyes gleamed with a hidden energy that seemed to swallow the air around Naruto's head; making it immensely difficult to breathe.

'_Wh-What is this?'_ the blonde asked himself as he tried to swallow air, trying to force it down into his lungs. _'I…Is this some sort of jutsu?'_

"…I wish I could say that it's been fun, Narut-Oops, I mean; _Kyuubi…"_ the white haired man sneered as he closed the ever shrinking gap between the blonde and himself. "But I've got places to go, people to see, people to see _dead,_ and of course…villages to betray and later on; destroy…" Mizuki stopped a foot or so away from Naruto, twirled the kunai in his hand once…twice…thrice…before catching it firmly in his right hand, handle in his hand, the blade pointing down below his palm. Raising his arm high above his head, Mizuki's eyes grew large with excitement seconds before lunging toward the blonde; weapon streaking through the midnight air aimed down at the blonde's neck.

Seeing the weapon's arch, body paralyzing pain melted away to a dull throb as the blonde instinctively flattened himself against the ground and quickly rolled out of the way; effectively dodging the kunai's descent.

"Damn it, Kyuubi!" the insane man snarled as he stumbled from his miss; "stay still so I can kill you!" Setting himself right, the white haired man charged after Naruto.

Still lying on the ground, noticing the man's charge, continued to roll away from the man; just barely managing to keep in front of him and his weapon…Until the man lobbed it at him. Thankfully; being blind by anger and rage; the man had aimed _at_ him and not where Naruto would have rolled _to,_ making the mistake a blessing in disguise-even if it nearly caused the blonde to lose control of his bladder.

'_I've gotta stop rolling around and do something!'_ Naruto told himself as he stared at the kunai that had almost hit him; sticking out of the ground. The sound of metal sliding out against metal caught the blonde's attention. Turning his gaze from the kunai sticking out of the ground toward the new sound; Naruto felt his eyes widen as far as they could possibly widen as Mizuki drew a large metal shuriken-a windmill shuriken if he remembered correctly from class-and placed his right hand inside of the large hole in the center of the weapon. _'…Is he gonna throw it at me?'_ the blonde wondered. To his surprise, the man didn't throw it. Instead, he began to twirl it around his right hand. After five or six twirls, the man stopped twirling it with his hand…and then began to twirl it at an incredible amount of speed with what must have been chakra.

The sound it created just spinning was awful; like a large stand fan set on 'high'. When the man swung it through the air the sounds fluctuated horribly…and combined with the murderous face that now Mizuki now wore; Naruto felt the blood drain from his face.

"Scared?" the white haired man asked tauntingly. Not bothering to give the blonde a chance to answer, the Chuunin sprung forward; brining his spinning weapon down toward the blonde. Not wanting to be sliced to ribbons, Naruto willed himself to roll several more times to evade the spinning blade of death seconds before the blade made contact with him.

The sound of cloth ripping and earth being torn asunder filled the air.

As he stopped rolling, Naruto glanced down at his person quickly. His left shoulder, which had been covered by his jumpsuit completely seconds ago, now sported a large, clean tear; and a large, shallow and thankfully; slender gash. The sound of footsteps and fan blades filled his ears. Looking up, the blonde barley noticed Mizuki's descending arm; the large blade arching down toward him once more. Once again, forcing his body to move; the blonde rolled out of the way of the large blade. As the blade made contact with the earth, it dug up large clods of dirt and threw rocks into the air; littering the small clearing with debris.

Coming to a stop, felt a stinging sensation emitting from his chest and made to inspect himself. However, unlike the last couple of times; Mizuki didn't pause to see if he had hit him or not and instead; brought his weapon out of the earth and sprinted after him.

Rolling preemptively, Naruto tried to force himself further and further away from Mizuki. Each roll only gaining him centimeters freedom from another frenzied swing from the man's spinning shuriken of death. The evasion continued like this until Naruto found himself rolling directly into the trunk of a large oak tree.

Eyes wide with fear, Naruto twisted his body around and planted his hands against the ground; watching as Mizuki's attacks came closer and closer.

Swinging at the blonde like a frenzied warrior lost to bloodlust; Mizuki's expression changed once he realized that Naruto's rolling evasion had come to an end. Forcing more chakra into his hand and into the weapon that spun around it-creating an even louder, more terrifying sound that filled the forest around him-and lashed out at the boy's location as hard and as fast as he could…

Knowing that there was nowhere to roll to in order to evade the attack; Naruto once again acted upon instinct…only this time, rather than evading and dodging; curled himself into a ball; arms brought up to try and deflect as much damage from the attack as possible…even if, deep down inside; he knew it wasn't going to save him…

For a split second, as he brought his arms up to protect himself, Naruto felt a burning sensation that seemed to travel up his arms, curl around from his arms until it reached the underside of his wrists; and then, a sharp; blinding pain that lasted for maybe a millisecond; breached through his wrists and then, with a small amount of force that seemed to be on par with the recoil of a rubber band snapping back into place after being pulled and left to fly; faded.

The oscillating sound of warbling pitches and the buffeting waves of air that soon pelted the area for a split second before the sound of spinning metal chewing its way through wood filled the air. Milliseconds later, pained screeching echoed throughout the forest.

"AAAHHHH!"

Snapping his eyes open, Naruto ignored the odd weight that seemed to have fallen on his head during the last attack and the stinging sensation from his wrists and gazed up at his attacker. Staggering back and away from his person, was Mizuki; holding his right arm with his left hand, shrieking in pain as two small, brown twig like structures protruded from his wrist and arm. Blood seeped down from the two small wounds and fell to the forest floor.

"W-What'd you do?" the man screamed painfully as he tried to pull the barbs out of his wrist and arm-however, as he touched them; the man tore his left hand away from them and his shrieks of pain increased in both length and sound.

'…_D…Did I do that?'_ the blonde wondered as he sat below the tree that Mizuki had trapped him under less than a minute ago.

A sudden groan of wood creaking behind him cut his train of thought off. Twisting his head around; shaking off sawdust off of his head in the process, and stared up at the large shuriken sitting in the middle of the large tree's trunk, a large brunt smelling gash-not uniform in depth, length or width-had left the tree with little to hold it upright properly. The cracking of wood fibers filled the air as the large tree began to sway toward him.

Flipping over onto hands and knees, Naruto pushed his pain riddled body to its limits as he scurried away from the falling tree…

-o-

Izumo and Kotetsu, accompanied by Akamichi Chouza; ran through the thick forests that surrounded their village in search of the blonde thief. Their search thus far, nearing the second hour mark; was beginning to seem hopeless, but until they found him or until the Hokage called the search off; it was their duty to continue searching for the boy and the scroll that he had swiped from the Tower. It wasn't until a sharp, pain filled scream filled the air did they feel like they had gone the right direction in their search.

"This way!" Chouza declared as he veered off toward the right, ducking under a low hanging branch in search of the person who had screamed seconds earlier. The two Chuunin nodded silently and followed the Jounin.

Suddenly, with the sound of a roll thunder; the earth began to shake violently. "A-An earthquake?" Izumo asked his allies. Neither Kotetsu nor Chouza answered as they stopped running and braced themselves. But, just as suddenly as it had begun; the noise and the shaking stopped; leaving all three shinobi bewildered.

"…Not an earthquake…" the large ninja began. Taking a deep breath of air in through his nose, the smell of freshly upturned earth filled his senses. "…A tree…" he nodded in the direction where the smell emitted from; "This way!" without waiting for the two Chuunin to follow him, Chouza left toward the vicinity of the freshly upturned earth and the fallen tree.

Izumo and Kotetsu glanced at each other briefly before sprinting off after the Jounin.

-o-

The first thing to meet Chouza's vision as he came across a now destroyed clearing, was a large, fallen tree that crushed a small cabin. Thankfully, from the small and now unfortunately destroyed flag that had been posted on the north side of said cabin; it was a mock cabin used to train both Genin and Chuunin alike in stealth. For now, ignoring the crushed cabin and the large oak that had fallen on top of it; the man discovered something that made his blood run cold.

Lying face first, less than fifteen feet away from the fallen oak; was his son's now ex-academy instructor. Umino Iruka. Rushing to check the man, Chouza's nose filled with the scent of spilled blood. Kneeling down beside the unconscious man; Chouza noted the depth of the man's wounds. Fingers lightly touching the man's legs, the Jounin felt his right index finger trail across the gash that traveled up and down the man's left leg. He quickly placed his fingers against the man's neck and waited to see if there was a pulse.

_...Bum….bum…._

Swearing softly, Chouza dug his hands into his medical pouch and pulled out a Blood Replenishing pill and bit into it before shoving it into the Chuunin's mouth. Using his hands and gently massage the injured man's throat, coaxing the pill down; the larger man hoped that the academy instructor would pull through.

"Chouza!" the sound of his two Chuunin partners breaking though the brush forced his head away from the injured Chuunin and toward their position.

"What's going on?" Izumo asked as he jogged over to him, Kotetsu following him close behind. Seeing the downed Chuunin under the Jounin's person, they frowned. "I…Is he dead?"

Chouza shook his head. "Not yet…I've forced a Blood pill down his throat as a last resort; but he still might not make it. Not with the damage he's sustained and the amount of blood he's lost already." He paused for a moment. "One of you take him to the hospital…I'm going to see if I can't find our thief-turned-murderer." Kotetsu and Izumo turned to look at each other.

"I'll take Iruka to the hospital." Izumo offered as he bent down to pick up the injured Chuunin, though just barely; not wanting to agitate the man's wounds further; and disappearing via Shunshin.

"Watch your back, Chouza…" Kotetsu warned the Jounin, who gave him an odd look. "Naruto may not be the smartest kid in the world and he may not even be a Genin…But he's a master at hiding when he doesn't want to be found. Trust me…I've had to look for the little Brat before…" the Jounin nodded before turning to gaze about the destroyed clearing. "Also, check for traps…Bastard's pretty good with those too…" Again, Chouza nodded.

As the two shinobi walked slowly around the clearing, both Chouza and Kotetsu could plainly see the large, gouges in the earth. To what made the gouges, the men didn't know; but it had to have been powerful in order to tear the earth up as much as it had.

Five minutes into their slow search, led Kotetsu toward the stump of the freshly felled tree. At first, he didn't expect to see anything, save for maybe a body, flattened and smashed by the large tree; but after a minute of searching, he discovered the white haired assistant instructor who assisted many of the instructors at the academy rather than just Iruka. He was unconscious, which was probably due to being in such proximity to the fallen tree. Bending down to see if the man was still alive; he began to check him out.

Depressing his fingers to Mizuki's neck, he checked the man's pulse. The somewhat steady beat of the man's heart allowed for the conscious Chuunin to sigh in peace before moving on. As he scanned the man's body with his eyes, cursing the moon's splotchy lighting; he couldn't find anything wrong with the man…at first. It wasn't until he checked the man's right arm, did he find the two barbs sticking out of Mizuki's hand and wrist. "Chouza! I found Mizuki!" The larger man turned his head toward Kotetsu.

'_Mizuki…Wasn't he the one who told the Hokage about this whole fiasco?'_ the large man pondered. _'Or, was it Iruka…'_ Something wasn't right…Nothing was adding up. As he stood up, intending on heading over to help Kotetsu with the other fallen academy instructor, something large and white caught his attention. Turning toward it, the large man instantly recognized it; _'The Scroll!'_ he began to head over to the artifact, but stopped as Kotetsu's words came back to him. Looking around the area, he couldn't _see_ anything out of place; other than the fallen tree and the second fallen academy instructor. He couldn't see any glinting strands of wire in the moonlight. He couldn't sense anything out of place either. Slowly walking over to the scroll, the large Jounin kicked at it with his foot…

…Nothing happened.

Deciding that the scroll wasn't trapped, the large man finally bent over and picked it up.

With the scroll safely in his hands, Chouza stood up; ready to call the search off for the blonde thief; when, as he straightened himself up, he noticed a small bundle of orange off to the side of the crushed building. _'Is that?'_ Chouza pondered. Hefting the scroll up onto his left shoulder, the large man carefully walked over to the orange bundle.

Once near it, he could see the face of the blonde thief, covered in dirt and a tiny bit of blood. His body quivered every now and again, but other than that; the boy seemed to be completely unresponsive to his surroundings. Chouza nudged him with his right foot, and when the boy didn't even move to swat at it; he realized that despite the boy's quivering, the pre-teen was most definitely unconscious. "Kotetsu!" he barked, turning his head toward the Chuunin. "Take Mizuki to the hospital then go report to the Hokage. If you get there before I do, tell him that I have both the scroll and our young thief. Understand?" the Chuunin nodded and bent over to grab hold of Mizuki so as to Shunshin him to the hospital. With a cloud of smoke signaling his departure; Chouza turned back to the blonde pre-teen and silently wondered what exactly happened.

'_There's no way that an academy student drop-out could have taken on two fully trained Chuunin…Not to mention, a boy his age, who; like my own son, doesn't like to read or study; knowing one of the main arteries travel through your legs?'_ It made no sense. Laying the scroll down on the ground, Chouza took out a smaller scroll from his vest pocket and undid the seal that kept it closed. Biting his thumb, the large man wiped his bodily fluid on the roll of paper and made several quick hand seals. In a small cloud of smoke, two objects appeared. A rope and a pair of chakra eating handcuffs. Though something in the back of his mind told him that the boy hadn't done what he initially thought he had, the boy was still both a suspect and a thief in the matter. And, with all thieves; there were certain precautions that had to be taken before moving them.

-o-

Sarutobi Hiruzen stared at the large Jounin who had, as Kotetsu told him he would after dropping Mizuki off at the hospital; just arrived, Scroll of Seals over his left shoulder; and the little, unconscious blonde thief in his right hand; bound and handcuffed. "Hokage-Sama." Chouza greeted him tiredly. "I found both the scroll and the boy, as you ordered." Hiruzen nodded.

"Thank you, Chouza-San." The Hokage thanked the man for his service. "If you would, please place Naruto on the couch. I'll take the scroll." As commanded, Chouza handed the scroll to the short Hokage before walking the boy over to the couch and setting him down it. As he made to stand up, Chouza kept his gaze on the blonde, obviously deep in thought. Hiruzen noticed the action. "Something the matter, Chouza?"

"…I'm having a hard time believing that a boy like this; even with the potential aid of the Kyuubi, could have disabled two Chuunin ranked shinobi; Hokage-Sama." the man stated. "I've heard of tales from places like Suna and Iwa, where Jinchuuriki can easily destroy entire villages…But I've never once heard of or seen this boy use the Kyuubi's powers before-and if he did, why are we still here? Surely he would have killed us, or left a trail of destruction through the forest from his flight…Right?"

"You have a keen mind, on par with your comrade Shikaku; Chouza…" Hiruzen praised the man, making the man blush slightly despite the atmosphere around them. "I in fact know exactly what happened in the forest…But I can't prove it-and while my word is law; this theft has reached so many ears that the entire village will know of what happened by mid-morning. When that happens, I'll have to have something to placate the remainder of the village other than just 'Because I'm the Hokage and what I say goes…'" He walked over to his desk and slowly took his seat behind the desk. "I'm afraid that until both Iruka and Mizuki wake up, Naruto will be spending some time in a cell."

"…Who did it?" Chouza asked.

"I can't tell you Chouza." The Hokage stated sadly. "These walls that surround us, the floors beneath and above us; all have mice scurrying within them." Chouza immediately understood the meaning and nodded. "However, Chouza; I think it's about time for you to go home and get some shut eye. After tonight's activities, I think we _all_ need some sleep."

"…Thank you, Hokage-Sama." Chouza said, bowing slightly before leaving the man's office in favor of returning home.

* * *

I don't really like how this chapter goes, but it's better than what I had before…which was actually really horrible by comparison(I was also sick and had just spent two hours kneeling over a toilet and had little to no sleep within my system when I wrote it…yeah…) Maybe in the future I'll come back and see if there's a different way I could have done things; but meh…

So, yeah…(saving now…) I was just about done, just had this and the pre-chapter stuff to type up and put in; when my computer unexpectedly shut itself down. I don't like that, not one bit.

Anyway, where have I been for the last two months or so(if you didn't read the A/N that was replaced by this update); well, I've been right here…It's just that the cord from my adapter to my laptop(aka power cord) caught on fire. Combined with car repairs and bills, I didn't have enough money to order a new cord until recently.

**Puffdadder:** Sometimes, I wish it did explode. No, what happened last time was a combination of viruses and my computer over heating(I wonder if that was what happened today) when I was playing the free version of Minecraft(found out my ghz is .20 less than what is required to play the game the hard way). Thank you for the Christmas wishes, though I didn't get anything I wanted; it was…okay. Had a few family arguments on said day, but nothing too major. Also, I don't think; other than my challenges; I don't think I've actually inspired anyone to write anything before…Thanks! And I hope you do well in writing it!

**Mavs7073:** I was actually on planning on making you all wait a few more chapters to showcase what the Bloodline was; but because writing this chapter was so difficult thanks to my own stupidity in forgetting that I had already introduced a character in the last chapter who I was going to introduce in this chapter…Well, yeah. Yeah, I don't blame you for not knowing if you like it yet or not. I'm like that too. I can read a story's summary or the first few chapters and think to myself "Wow, this is pretty cool…I like it!" and then two or three chapters later "…What the hell happened?" The ideas…Well, I appreciate the gesture; really I do, but I'm going to see how far I can get on my own-mainly because I don't know when I'm going to have the time to update anything and also because I'm challenging myself to do it all by myself from start to finish. However, if I'm stuck on furthering the bloodline or developing it; I'll be sure to ask.

**blinth:** Thank you. From my first story up until now, I've always tried to either deviate from the normal, well worked path or just break things; like "Because he has the Kyuubi sealed within him, Naruto can now summon fireballs with no effort" or something like that. Fire Naruto was all the rage when I started writing, hence my foray into an Ice Naruto-it didn't get too far due to my own idiocy; but still, I like to deviate-it makes for a somewhat less boring Fanon universe.

**brown phantom:** Thank you for the idea and the challenge, first and foremost. As I stated at the beginning of the last chapter; it's going to test my abilities and hopefully mold my skills and fine tune them-plus, I like it a lot. I've had many ideas that never got past certain stages of development that all started with Naruto having an unknown bloodline that **no one** knows what it is, where it came from or how it works or evolves.

I like the fact that you also like my deviations to the normal Naruto stories that are so overwhelmingly produced day-in and day-out. Iwa, was once upon a time in Naruto Fandom; a threat used by authors of yesteryear; but sadly with the ship loads of Naruto/Hinata, Akatsuki/Madara fans out there; it seems like the two most popular scenarios produced involve Konoha vs. Kumo, usually with Naruto saving Hinata from the Ambassador; or Naruto vs. Akatsuki. Iwa is now more commonly used as a puppet or for filler chapters. There's a lot of tension to be sought through using Iwa-which is one of the reasons why I chose them.

I will also try my absolute best to reframe from either turning Hinata into a bad person or showing her being too involved with another person. I will, as I stated at the beginning of the first chapter, try my best to reframe from bashing her.

I like Hinata as an individual; not as a pairing option for Naruto-and my reasons stem from the fact that in Canon(as well as Fanon) most people seem to forget that relationships don't suddenly form at the 'I love her/him'(aka, the 'love at first sight'-which I don't believe in-) level. They start from getting to know the other. In Canon, Hinata essentially stalks Naruto; but she rarely speaks what's on her mind or states her feelings for him _to_ him-even now after her Father has sort of taken back what he's been shoving down her throat since she was young- and she might have done so since I stopped reading/watching) but other than the Naruto vs. Pain showdown, she hasn't been able to say much to him about her feelings. Most Fanfiction authors take this and run with it and forget that while they may be friends, they don't know anything about each other on the base level-and from I've seen on FFNet; they usually turn it into a smut fest or a fluff fest where the original plot for the story no longer seems to matter-this is part of the reason why I no longer surf through the 'Search for stories' page(s) and haven't done so since '08.

Despite my objections to _that_ pairing, I don't think that Hinata should either turn 'evil' or 'die' or whatnot-and I think that she does deserve someone; I just don't think that without major plot revision that person is Naruto. If Kishimoto hadn't had her stalk Naruto for as long as she did and had given them more than the Pre-Chuunin Finals period/filler arc missions vs. Iwa shinobi(the ones with the bee/wasp summons) and the tiny portion of the Pain destroys Konoha arc; where they actually talked and got to know each other a bit better; then I could see it happening. Either way, should she find someone else in this story; I'll down play it to the point where you may see it maybe once or twice in the entire story-if it even happens. I hope my opinion doesn't turn you off-I'd hate to see you stop reading because of it.

Now, to all those who read; I'd like to thank you for doing so. For all of those who reviewed both last time and the A/N; thank you.

Write at you later!


	3. Chapter 3

Quills

* * *

When he had first woken, Naruto was scared of what he had found around him. To his left, stood a large; thick stone wall; which was mirrored by the wall that encompassed his right as well as behind him. Possibly the scariest part thing that he found about his new place of residence, sat directly in front of him; a large grate of metal bars.

Uzumaki Naruto realized where he was-in jail.

Prison life was much like Iruka-Sensei had informed him, as well as the rest of the class a year ago: Gloomy walls with no windows, one toilet and one sink-both extremely worn and dirty-and depending on the size of the cell; anywhere from one to five beds, meaning that they would-that _he_ would-probably get a cellmate.

Thankfully, his cell only had two beds; and for the first five days of his incarceration, it had been only him in the cell.

The sixth day brought a cellmate.

He had been asleep when the cell door opened. The sounds of metal clattering against metal and the grunting noises that had accompanied the opening of the iron door; had brought him out of slumber, and he quickly fell into a state of panic. One of the things that Iruka-Sensei had told them in class was that there were some people in jail, who forced their cellmates to do extremely gross and nasty things to them. Naruto hid his gaze at the wall closest to him, covering his head up with the thin blanket given to him by the jail; praying that this person, his new cellmate; wasn't one of those kind of people.

After the prison guards shoved this prisoner into the cell, they quickly slammed the door shut; and extremely loud and angry sounding clang echoed throughout the jail as the cell door latch caught and locked. Not knowing what to do, Naruto kept his eyes on the wall beside his cot.

He had no clue that his cellmate was a girl until early the next morning, when the guards brought breakfast.

He didn't get a great look of the girl until dinner, but from what he could see from first glance; he could tell that she was young, maybe a few years older than he was; had long brown hair and a fairly pale complexion. That was it. She kept her face as hidden as possible as she grabbed a tray and slunk back to her cot, facing the wall as she ate in silence.

There were no lunches in the jail. Naruto found that out the first day. The girl had, at least once; glanced at the cell door at what Naruto thought must have been around noon. He thought about telling her that, but didn't. He wasn't sure that she would have listened even if he had.

Once supper came, Naruto finally caught a better glimpse of his cellmate. She did have a pale complexion, but it wasn't a sickly pale. She had amber eyes and from the way the front of her shirt bulged slightly, even in her drooped forward position; she had a sizeable bust-bigger than Sakura's he noted. He couldn't see how long her hair was, the light within the jail was offered by torches and the light was swallowed hungrily by the shadows that inhabited the cell; as it curved around the older girl's body.

They both ate in silence, no sounds leaving their mouths as they dinned.

For an entire day and then some, neither of them spoke. Naruto opted for silence, thoughts of what was going to happen to him now that he was a prison mate, kept him silent.

Sleep avoided him for most of the night. Because there were no clocks within the prison-something that Naruto had looked for during his first day of incarceration-he didn't know when he fell asleep. It wasn't until his cellmate shook him awake that he learned that he had fallen asleep sometime during the early morning hours.

It was the first time that the older girl had acknowledged him, as well as spoke to him. "If you aren't going to eat, can I eat your breakfast?" Her voice, while feminine, was deeper than he thought it should have been. Of course, he had been comparing her to girls in his class; like Sakura, Ino, Hinata and even one of the class bullies; Ami. Maybe, just maybe; like boys voices, girls voices changed as they aged; becoming a bit lower in tone?

Still groggy, Naruto looked over at the meal tray on the stone floor, trying to see what it was. Able to see only a small portion of the tray, he could only see toast and what looked like scrambled eggs. He looked at the girl, a tiny bit more aware of his surroundings now that he was a bit more awake.

She was pretty, no doubt about it. Her amber eyes extenuated the rest of her face. Her nose and her cheeks which seemed to just blend in with no real complexion wears or tears like some of the girls he had seen in class. No pimples and no acne, and save for a few minor cuts and a fading bruise that she had probably obtained during her arrest; there were no flaws that he could find…Save for one.

While her cheeks were of good health, he could see a bit of bone beginning to protrude, if just barely as the skin of her cheeks sank in some; something that he used to find in his own mirror image as a child; back before he was on assisted living by Hokage-Jiji. Back before he had enough food to sustain himself. She had been, if her one blemish-her one imperfection-was to go by; starving. Feeling sorry for her, Naruto nodded; "Yeah…You can eat it…" A small, but thankful smile blossomed on her face, on that she was quick to hide before turning around and practically diving onto the tray.

Naruto watched the way that she tore into, what had been up until a few scant moments ago; been his breakfast. She hardly breathed as she woofed the food down. From the way she ate, Naruto almost nodded-his assumption was correct; she had been starving.

He knew it wasn't polite to watch her devour her food like he had, but a combination of morbid fascination and lingering waves of sleep kept his eyes glued to the scene. It wasn't until the girl had nearly finished the tray that she turned her head and found him staring at her. She blushed instantly and controlled her remaining bites. After finishing the tray of any food; crumbs included, the older girl polished off the water and then, after replacing the cup back onto the tray; she pushed it toward the cell door and returned to her cot.

The two adolescents sat in silence for most of the day. In fact, it wasn't until the middle of the coming night that they talked again.

The talk was brought on not out of want, but necessity.

It stated when a cell deeper n the jail became a loud, pit of anger and violence. It didn't wake him, being tired from the night before, he slept through it. In fact, up until her felt something brushing up against him while he slumbered, he had been able to ignore the noise.

The feeling of another body brush up against his own repeatedly eventually woke him.

He never thought of it before that night, but he was glad that the torches stayed lit throughout the night.

Blinking his eyes, bleary thought they were; the blonde could easily see his cellmate huddled next to him, head held in her hands; pressed down over her ears as hard as she could. Her eyes were screwed shut and even though he could barely see them in the low light, he managed to pick up the trails of tears that were cascading down her face; flowing down from her eyes.

"…Hey…" His voice; tired sounding and throaty; made the older girl jump. He sat up, fearful that something was wrong and tried again. Again she jumped. Turning her head toward him, opening her eyes; the older girl pulled her hands away from her ears and shot them out toward him in a blur of motion.

It happened quickly, leaving him stunned for several moments. There, in a jail cell; sat an older girl; grabbing onto him possessively, crying into his body as the sounds of violence filled the jail. Combined with the older girl's sobs, it was a scene that sent chills up his spine.

For what may have been untold hours, the girl sobbed; soaking his shirt and his chest with her tears.

She didn't say anything as she cried, which; for him, was kind of odd. He wasn't in tune with how to calm crying girls or women down; but all the shows he had been able to see; all the movies he had snuck into-and the majority of those had been romance movies-whenever the leading female role broke down and cried uncontrollably like the one who had attached herself to his person was doing; they usually stopped after a few minutes of being held or comforted. _'Then again,'_ he told himself sadly; _'this isn't a movie…This is real life…'_

No...it wasn't.

One had no sense of time within the prison, at least not until the guards came with morning or evening meals. The prison was built specifically to confuse its captives; making them believe that the outside world had left them a long time ago; when in reality, it was coexisting side-by-side. It was something that Iruka-Sensei called a 'Psychological Gimmick' that the jail used on all of its inmates. The jail was, or at least; he thought it was, underground. That would be a reason for why there were no windows as well as the reason for why; during the day, there was no added light within the prison. It made time trickle by.

"_I am your master!"_ An anger, though oddly victorious sounding shout echoed from down the hallway, startling Naruto as well as his cellmate. _"Know this as I have marked you! From here until the day that you either die, you serve me in whatever way I say; or will kill you! Let everyone here know that Prisoner 1,809-A is my bitch!"_ Various shouts followed the declaration of ownership. Some were raucous cheers while others where raspy orders telling the loud man to shut up and be quiet.

Naruto half expected for more grunting and flesh-on-flesh impacting noises to swarm the innards of the jail; but thankfully, it seemed as if the man who had 'marked' ownership over someone else-probably his cellmate, marking whoever that was as one of the people that Iruka-Sensei had explained to him and his classmates-had, for the time being; had enough.

The jail quickly sank back into a state of non-excitement. It seemed like everyone around his cell were falling asleep.

But for him and his cellmate, sleep seemed to have evaded them.

Glancing down at his cellmate, who still clung to him; he noticed that even though the sounds had stopped, she continued to cry; albeit, not nearly as loud or as hard. Deep down inside, he wanted to comfort her; but after going through all the lines and scenes that he had seen in movies and on television, he realized that not only were they all movie magic-making them fake-but they also led to the main characters finding a bedroom and jumping on each other and even later still; the girl seemed to swell up, a by-product of jumping on the boy; and later still, popping out a baby. He didn't want to have a baby, not yet anyway. Finding all of his knowledge useless, he opted to just remain quiet and let the older girl cry out her tears.

Thankfully, he wasn't the one to initiate conversation. Several minutes later, the girl did.

"…I…I'm sorry…" Naruto looked down at her, wondering why she would say something like that. Apparently she was able to see his expression and elaborated, if only slightly. "I'm sorry for doing what I did…" she sniffled slightly and wiped at her eyes with her clothes as she pulled away from him.

"H-Hey…Its' fine!" He attempted to brush it off. However, the girl wouldn't have any of it.

"I'm serious!" She stressed. "…I…I didn't mean to…Its'…" she trailed off suddenly, a shiver rippling up and down her spine. "…It brought up bad memories…"

Naruto frowned. Iruka-Sensei never did go into detail about what happened in jail, but after the way that the man earlier had called his cellmate his 'Bitch', he was fairly certain that it wasn't pretty. If someone had done something similar to the older girl that was his cellmate…

"…Megumi…" he faintly heard the girl whisper to him, bringing him out of his thoughts. Staring at her owlishly, she re-elaborated. "My name is Megumi…"

"O-Oh…" Smooth. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto…A-And don't worry about this…" he gestured to his shirt and the now stained cot beneath them. "I've dealt with worse…Like boiling hot water." The older girl's eyes opened wide at the confession. "First time I tried cooking ramen…Spilt it all over myself, hehe!" he ran a hand through his hair in a sheepish manner. "…Hurt like hell…" he added softly.

"How old were you?" She asked in a soft voice. Naruto furrowed his eyebrows and looked up toward the ceiling, trying to recall the memory.

"I think…I think I was five; but I'm not one-hundred percent sure…"

"Five?" she asked, taken back by his age. "W-What about your siblings or parents? Grandparents?"

It wasn't the first time that someone had asked him questions about his home life and about his family. It was, however; one of the first times in a long time that someone hadn't said it in a insulting manner; much like Kiba had a few times during their spars at the Academy. He tried not to let it show, but the morose feelings that the question brought up peeked through a tiny bit. "Don't have any." He explained softly. "Orphan." He summed up for her. The older girl nodded slowly and turned her head away.

Sitting back on her butt, she brought her knees up to her chest and hugged them, staring down at the stone floor beneath them. "…Sometimes I wish I was an orphan…" Her comment struck Naruto like a bolt of lightning.

"Why?" he wondered, unable to keep his anger out of his tone as he spoke; unintentionally scaring the older girl; who had snapped her head back around to look at him, amber colored eyes wide with fear. Realizing what he had done, Naruto stopped and calmed himself before opening his mouth again. "Why would someone want to be an orphan? It's lonely and cruel and people look down at you just because you're an orphan! I'd give anything to have a family! For someone to help me, protect me and stand up to bullies for me! To love me! To-" Megumi interrupted him.

"…Sometimes, Naruto…Family can be worse than any bully…" the girl stated softly, unconsciously pulling her dress down over her legs, toward the cot as if she were trying to hide something from the world. Naruto waited for her to continue, but when she didn't offer anything more; he bit his tongue. She obviously didn't want to talk about it.

For several minutes, they sat in silence; no words spoken to the other. It wasn't long before Megumi pushed herself to the edge of the cot and planted her feet down on the stone floor before pushing herself up onto her feet and tottering over to her cot; leaving Naruto alone and puzzled.

'_How could family be worse than a bully?'_ The thought ran through his mind. Laying back on his cot, Naruto ignored the slightly soaked mattress and stared up at the ceiling, pondering the older girl's words.

Though he didn't realize it, sleep evaded both Megumi as well as himself.

-o-

For two days after the girl's breakdown, the two sat in relative silence, only a few words were spoken; mainly when telling the other that they were using the toilet or asking if the other wanted any of their food-mainly Naruto when he found a heaping pile of beans or stalks of celery sitting on his tray; something that Megumi accepted with an almost greedy manner.

The morning of his tenth day in jail, he; as well as his cellmate were shocked to see a pair of guards standing outside their cell. They stood in silence, glaring at Naruto slightly; but did nothing else. It wasn't until a tall, muscular man wearing a black trench coat and a red bandana that rested atop his head walked into view, did the two men do anything-in this case, they took a few steps back away from the cell. The man's eyes were cold and merciless, and they zeroed in on Naruto; and very quickly after, a vicious and cruel grin blossomed over his face.

"Normally, I would have just let you rot, or have hung you up by your testicles; but it seems that someone's gone and denied me of such pleasure." The man's grin fell, but only slightly. A shiver raced up Naruto's spine. "Anyway, I guess it's high time to introduce you to what other traitors get." He snapped his fingers, and one of the guards stepped forward, cell key in hand.

-o-

"Tell me what happened that night, Mizuki." Yamanaka Inoichi asked the Chuunin, pen and paper in hand.

"…So much happened that night, what with finding out that both Iruka and Naruto planned on betraying the village…I don't know where to begin." The Chuunin in question answered.

Biting back a sigh, Inoichi decided to give the younger man some advice; "The beginning would probably be the best." The blonde shinobi suggested. Mizuki nodded.

"I don't know when Naruto and Iruka made the plan to steal the scroll, but I know that it revolved around the boy failing to pass the Genin Exam."

"How so?" Inoichi asked, making a not on his note pad.

"Naruto has always been horrible with both chakra manipulation as well as control-presumably due to the Kyuubi's influence-and because of that, he has always had a hard time with jutsu. It took him several years to get the Henge technique down; though now that he's managed to get it working for him, it's one of his best techniques." The blonde Jounin nodded and made several notes on his pad of paper before nodding for the man to continue. "Anyway, one of the jutsu that screws the boy up the most is the Bunshin jutsu. He can't make one to save his life!" Mizuki added with a small smile; one that seemed as if he were remembering a rather funny bit of a comedy routine. "…And for the last two years, ever since Iruka became the head instructor for the class; he's used the same graduation exam set up. Kawarimi, Henge and Bunsin; mixed in with a few taijutsu and weapons tests; but the big three are the three former." Again, the blonde haired man made some notes on his note pad.

"Now, last year; in the class across the hall, young Rock Lee; the boy who can't use his chakra at all, was allowed to graduate and became a Genin under Maito Gai's team. Naruto; who had taken the exam the year before Iruka was moved to head instructor of his class; figured that since Rock Lee was able to pass without being able to create a Bunshin, he should be able to pass as well. Despite the fact that he planned on betraying the village, Iruka has always been a stickler for the rules-ever since we became Genin-a cover up for his schemes. He wouldn't let Naruto pass without being able to create a Bunshin despite the fact that he did make two Bunshin…They weren't the best looking and probably couldn't fool a fly, but there were two of them…" Again, Inoichi made a note. "When I asked Iruka if he planned on passing Naruto, pushing him onto a team that would work on remedial skills for a while before doing anything above D-Rank missions, as we've done before; Iruka declined and told Naruto that he had failed."

"What happened then?"

"Well, I know that Naruto was mulling about outside of the academy; watching and glaring at the other students who had passed-he did it the year before too. I think that this year though he heard some of the less than stellar comments made about him by some of the parents and older siblings of the students. And when Iruka came to 'collect' him later, telling the boy about 'another' way to pass the Genin Exam; I think that Naruto accepted without thinking about it-wanting to prove everyone wrong." Mizuki finished.

Nodding, Inoichi finished writing his notes before looking back up at the Chuunin in front of him. "So, Iruka baited Naruto into stealing the scroll?" Mizuki nodded, "So then; how did Iruka end up with such a grievous wound?" Surely an academy level student on par with the Jinchuuriki's academic scores couldn't have known where the main arteries were.

"I'm not too sure how it happened." Mizuki began. "I arrived after the wound had occurred and arrived with just enough time to engage Naruto before he fled with the scroll."

"So you were the one who cut the large tree down." It wasn't a question. Mizuki mulled it over for a few, short seconds; but didn't confirm or deny the accusation. Nodding, Inoichi made another mark down on his pad. "Next question…" he skipped trying to ascertain the information from the Chuunin level shinobi. "…Inuzuka operatives were sent to investigate the scene after we retrieved the three of you from the place of confrontation." Mizuki felt his heartbeat speed up. "There were multiple reports of two more entities in the forest with you, Umino Iruka and Uzumaki Naruto. Do you know who they were?"

Having absolutely no recognition of what happened after the tree fell down to the ground; Mizuki could only surmise that since Iruka had found them so quickly; that someone else had been able to locate them shortly after the tree fell. He knew of only two others who were in that small clearing and for him to mention either one of their names was damning evidence that his story was in no way remotely true.

"I was told I was found unconscious after when reinforcements found us." Inoichi nodded. "I can only surmise that it was a pair from the reinforcements that found us."

"Hmm." Inoichi hummed as he scribbled in his note pad. He began to open his mouth to ask another question; but the sound of a light chime in the back of the room where they were conducting the interview styled interrogation sounded; marking the end of the meeting. "Well, it seems as if we're done for the day, Toji-San…" Inoichi remarked as he closed his note pad and pocketed his pen before standing up. Bowing to the younger man formally; the blonde Jounin waited until the younger man stood up, returned the bow and then made for the door, opening; exiting and shutting the door behind him; before sighing tiredly and stretching slightly.

The sounds of scuffling and muffled shouts and grunts of pain and shock as well as angry yelling from outside his office brought a small smile to his face.

All over his office, bugs had been placed-the tiny radios placed in places where no one would think to look for; had done their job in relaying the Chuunin's words to Inoichi's betters. "Now, all that's left to do; is go and speak to Ibiki."

-o-

Inoichi found himself standing outside of Mornio Ibiki's torture room, watching as Mitarashi Anko dangled a potentially venomous snake in front of the boy's face.

"I thought that I might supplement you with a few answers to any unfulfilled questions, Ibiki." He stated at he glanced at the taller man. The interrogator gave him a glance before returning to the scene in front of them.

"The boy's innocent." The scarred man stated gruffly. Inoichi blinked at the taller man in disbelief. "But since I had to hold him until someone came to collect him, we kept him here, asking him questions about the night and the details that surround it…How that boy managed to get as far as he has in life; I don't know…But he's damn lucky…"

"How so?"

"That boy doesn't even know the difference between a main artery and a simple blood vessel-Didn't even know that Umino-San would have died had it not been for his training and his ability to suppress the bleeding with his chakra…"

"Well, I know Ino has complained about his lack of intelligence before; though not all too much…But from what I can remember of her tirades…_'He doesn't even know how babies are born, Dad!'_ or how several years ago; he thought that boys would grow breasts like girls do." Inoichi shook his head in disbelief. "I'm sure that some of it is because he's an orphan and probably hasn't had the best education before joining the academy; but it makes me wonder about him sometimes…"

"Yes well," Ibiki intoned, finally moving toward the door that led toward the interrogation room that currently housed both the boy in question as well as his purple haired tormentor and her pet snake. "I hope that he grows out of it…For every ones' sake." Inoichi nodded solemnly and waited for the scarred man to go and retrieve the blonde haired academy level boy from the purple haired kunoichi.

-o-

The sound of the door to the room where had been held for who knows how long, completely missed his ears as he concentrated on the dark colored snake that dangled down in front of his face; eyes wide with fear and panic. "Anko…" the sound of the man who had sprung him from his jail cell earlier that day brought an instinctive shiver to him as he sat strapped to the chair. "…I need to speak with you…"

"…Tsk…" the woman clicked her tongue sadly. "Can't you just tell me in here?" She whined. The man must have shook his head because Naruto heard no words from the man before the woman clicked her tongue once more and withdrew the snake from his face. "…Phooey…" She groaned as she walked toward the door to the room; her sandals clacking off of the cold stone floor. The sound of the door shutting in their wake; signifying that they had both retreated from the room allowed Naruto to finally stuck in a deep breath of air as well as move his head for the first time in a while.

"_This is Forty-Six;"_ he remembered the insane woman's words when she first took over for the scarred man earlier that morning. _"I can't remember if she's poisonous or not, so if I were you; I'd make sure that I didn't move all that much…She, likes to bite…"_

'_Crazy Bitch!'_ the blonde thought to himself, shivering slightly as he thought of the purple haired woman. Moving his head slightly, a burning, painful sensation rippling through his neck as he moved his head from side to side; his eyes watering from the pain; he made to move his arms to wipe his tears away, but was reminded-mainly by the leather straps that help bind him to the chair he had been forced into-that he couldn't.

The sound of the door opening once more halted any more derogatory comments about either the purple haired snake woman or the scarred man; fearing that they would hear him and decide to do something even more unpleasant to him. He was saved; from his newest set of nightmares, by the image of a tall, thin man wearing a Jounin's vest with long, pale blonde hair walking in front of him; holding a pad of paper in one hand, along with a pen; and a chair in his other hand.

The man placed the chair directly in front of him and sat down in it; wriggling slightly in the chair as he opened up his pad of paper and clicked the end of his pen; forcing the writing tip to pop out of the bottom of the tool. "My name is Yamanaka Inoichi; Uzumaki-San." The man introduced himself in an almost formal manner. "I'm here to get some answers…Understand?"

Narrowing his eyes slightly; Naruto wondered about the man for a moment. There was something about him that he couldn't place his finger on. He had seen him before...But where? He thought about it rather than the question the man had asked him. Sighing, the man continued.

"Right." He adjusted himself once more before running a finger down his pad of paper and stopping at a question. "So, who's plan was it to steal the Scroll on graduation night, Naruto?" Naruto blinked at him owlishly, the man's new question interrupting his previous thought process.

"…Wha?" He asked. The man frowned but did nothing more. Instead, he asked the question again. "Oh…Sorry, just thought that you looked familiar…"

"You've probably seen me around the academy a time or two." The older blonde informed the boy. "My daughter is, or was; in your class."

"…Oh!" the boy exclaimed, eyes widening as he recognized the man. "You're Ino's Dad! I remember you now! You're the one who showed us that broken kunai two years ago!"

"That I am…That I did." The man nodded. "However, we're not here to talk about that, Naruto. We're here to talk about what happened on graduation night."

"Sorry…" the boy apologized, a sheepish look spreading across his face as he apologized. Inoichi waved it off.

"The night that you stole the scroll…" he began again, "Who's plan was it? Was it yours or Umino-San's?"

Whatever remnants of the sheepish look that had previously adorned the boy's face quickly vanished as an angry expression quickly bloomed over his face. "Iruka-Sensei didn't do shit!" He spat out angrily, his outburst causing Inoichi to raise an eyebrow in mild shock.

"I'm sorry," Inoichi began; making a note on his pad as he apologized. "I was merely going by what Toji-San told me…"

"…What'd that Bastard tell you?" the boy asked, his tone low and dangerous. If he weren't strapped into the chair, Inoichi thought that the boy might have tried to attack him for accusing the injured man who the boy thought of as an older brother.

Taking a breath, Inoichi opened his mouth; "Well, from what he said; and what we're basing our evidence and as well as our questions on, Umino-San played with your feelings; trying to get you to view him as an older brother of sorts just so he could betray you and use you to his own means. In this case, obtaining the Scroll of Seals."

"Iruka-Sensei didn't tell me to go take that stupid scroll! Mizuki-Teme did!" the boy fumed. "That asshole told me about this 'Make-Up' test…And…and I was stupid enough and pissed enough about failing to actually listen to him…"

"So you're admitting to stealing the scroll?" Inoichi asked. Naruto thought about the question that would more than likely damn him for what happened that night…But upon thinking of what might happen to Iruka-Sensei and what Mizuki would get for capturing them only steeled his determination. He nodded. Instantly, the Jounin was noting what he had just admitted to down on the pad of paper. "Okay…" the man muttered quietly. "…Now, if Toji-San told you about the 'Fake Make-Up' exam, then how did Umino-San find his way to your location that night?"

"…Iruka-Sensei's always been able to find me…" Naruto muttered softly, looking down; ignoring the vanishing pain from his muscles. "It might take him a while; but he always finds me…"

"Has anyone else been able to 'find' you?" Inoichi asked. Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, I mean I've been busted by other people before, like Jiji; but Iruka-Sensei's the only one to find me every time he's tried to. Even during training at the academy; Mizuki-Teme would give up about an hour into our lesson and move on to find the other kids. Then after finding them all; he'd lead them inside and continue, while Iruka-Sensei continued to look for me."

"And you said that it takes him a while, yes?"

"Well, yeah…I mean; who'd think to look for someone hiding under a bunch of roots anyway? Especially if the hole where that person is hiding in used to belong to a skunk or a badger?" Naruto retorted. Inoichi's right eyebrow rose for a few scant moments before falling as he wrote more on his notepad. "So, Umino-San found you in the forest; with the scroll…right?" Naruto nodded.

"Yeah…He popped out of nowhere and started to yell at me about stealing the scroll…And then before I could tell him about the test, Mizuki and the two Iwa-Nin showed up." Inoichi's eyes widened instinctively. He marked something down furiously and pressed the question further. "Uh…I can't remember their names all too well, my body felt like it was one fire; only from the inside out…But they held me while Mizuki-Teme sliced Iruka-Sensei's leg up real bad…" he trailed off, remembering what happened after Mizuki attacked Iruka but before the two Iwa-Nin ran away. "Oh..." Naruto began, his tone solemn. "Mizuki told me that I was the Kyuubi…Which is kind of weird, I mean; I don't have any tails or nothing..." Inoichi marked the information down as well.

"What did he say?"

"Well…He said something like _'The Yondaime didn't kill the Kyuubi; but made it switch bodies with a baby…' _or something like that…I don't really remember." Inoichi tried not to frown, and for the most part; he succeeded…but from the way that the boy looked up at him, his eyes narrowing slightly as he took his expression in; he knew that some of it appeared. Thankfully the boy didn't act upon it and let it drop.

"You don't believe what he said, do you?" the Jounin asked slowly. "It could have been a trick to scare you…"

"The two Iwa-Nin didn't think it was a trick…" the boy replied, a guarded tone overlapping his voice. "They chucked me to the side and started yelling at Mizuki-Teme; calling him stupid and saying stuff like _'Jinchuuriki are things you shouldn't fuck with, Mizuki! Fuck your money; we're out of here!'_ and then they ran…" a sardonic smirk made its way onto the boy's face before he continued. "That Bastard was really pissed when they ran away…" Inoichi nodded.

Looking down at his notepad, eyeing his notes; Inoichi decided to cut the conversation short. The boy had, of course; brought up information that Mizuki never would have, even under the fear and pain of death. Standing up, the man ignored the boy for a few seconds and walked over to the door, opened it and stepped through; shutting it behind him, leaving Naruto alone; once more.

-o-

"Well…That's certainly some disturbing news…" Anko muttered softly as the blonde man walked into the viewing room, after he shut the door. "Iwa huh?"

"Unfortunately…" The blonde nodded. "He also says that they dropped him to the ground when Mizuki let it slip that he is the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi…They're probably already within Tsuchi no Kuni borders if not breaking down the gates to Iwa in a mad dash to report back to Ōnoki."

"You'd better get that new information to the Hokage, Inoichi." Ibiki belted out from his spot in the room. "I'll get someone to bring the brat to his office in a few minutes."

"I'll do it!" Anko offered, raising her right hand into the air. Both men turned and stared at her silently. "What?"

"I'm amazed he didn't piss his pants when you dangled your pet in front of him earlier, Anko…I don't think he has a high opinion of you right now." Ibiki commented. Anko scoffed.

"Like I give a shit what he thinks." She walked to the door and placed a hand on the knob. "Besides, it'll be easier if he's not jumping around, all happy and what not about getting out of here…" Ibiki thought about it, as did Inoichi. Looking at each other, the two men shrugged.

"Either way, I've got to get this to the Hokage." The Jounin stated, walking toward the other door.

-o-

Looking over the official reports, comparing them to the unofficial reports lying on his desk; Shimura Danzo remained impassive. The ideas and thought processes that traipsed through his mind-both good and bad-flew passed as he read, re-read and _re-_re-read each report. _'Toji Mizuki, Chuunin level ninja in terms of nothing but title. Though idiotic and bigoted, he kept a tight lid on his anger and his fear long enough to both seek out potential new employers as well as aides to help him in his conquest.'_ Yes…Had the white haired man been sound of mind and less of a bigot, he would have been promoted out of hard work and ability, rather than under village arrest for murdering his teammates on a mission several years prior. However, the man had made an ally in someone that he could not condone. _'Orochimaru…'_ he paused slightly at the name of his friend's former student. _'Why would Orochimaru ally with someone like Mizuki? Was it because he was a relatively strong shinobi? Or, was it because he had both the grudge against Konoha and the will to do something about it?'_

Obviously the idea about stealing the scroll was Orochimaru's plan-his never ending search for immortality practically forced him, _screamed_ at him to steal the scroll just in case the answer resided somewhere within. Whether or not the mad man planned on keeping the wayward Chuunin around after he delivered the scroll unto him was undecided; thought being the mastermind the pale skinned man was; he would have milked him dry of any and all information about the village in its current state.

Glancing down at the unofficial report that had just arrived from the North-Western border of Hi no Kuni no more than an hour ago... _'I wonder if this will be enough to change that old Monkey's mind?'_

-o-

The sun hung low in the orange-red sky, the mountains and the forests that surrounded the village's vicinity swallowing the large yellow orb as dark clouds of night marched from east to west; chasing the sun, devouring its rays of light as day turned to night. Tired, hungry, mentally scarred and scared of women with purple hair and with a healthy new fear of snakes; trudged Naruto. With his head hung low, eyes half open, barely noting where he was currently and what and where he needed to either step or turn to re-direction himself or just move out of someone's way; the blonde passed up his favorite eatery in favor of sleep-sleep in his own bed for the first time in nearly eleven days.

'…_Jiji wasn't too happy with me…'_ the blonde ran the past three hours over in his head as he slumped home. _'But…How was I supposed to know that there wasn't a make-up test? I mean, yeah; I wasn't offered a make-up the first two times; but maybe it was a brand new thing?'_ It was plausible, even Jiji had admitted that…But the fact that he had been ordered to lift such an important relic of the village should have been a clue…And like a fool, he had just accepted it and carried out the deed. Squeezing a small bundle in his left hand tightly out of a mixture of fear and anger; the blonde cast a quick glance at his new headband. "…Jiji's right…I after what I did, I don't deserve this…" _'I don't deserve to be a ninja…Not yet, anyway…'_

-o-

"You passed him anyway?" Danzo asked his old friend as he stared out the large bay window in the man's office, both watching the sun set behind the trees.

"Although he stole the scroll, which normally would be grounds to hang him like any other traitor; he was mislead by someone who actively sought out the scroll to use against us. It was our luck, as well as the boy's; that Mizuki's anger, fear and bigotry got the better of him and allowed Naruto to survive long enough for Mizuki to slip up."

Danzo didn't nod, but instead; he hummed a low hum. "…The medical reports state that Mizuki had two small wounds on his right arm. One a small stab wound to his wrist and another that almost went through his right hand…Did they ever find out what caused the wounds?"

"They knew what caused the wounds, Danzo." Hiruzen replied, giving his comrade a quick sideways glance. "They just don't know where they came or what they were made out of."

"Any information helps, Sarutobi." Danzo grunted. "And before you try to pull that 'I'm the Hokage, listen and obey' shit with me…" The crippled man took his hand off of his cane and stuck it inside the upper portion of his outfit and dug around for something. A brief moment passed before the crippled man pulled his hand out, where; in his clutch were three thin folders. He handed all three to the Hokage. "I received information from the Base of our Tree; that a pair of Iwa-Nin were seen running toward our North-Western border like the Hounds of Hell had marked them as their infernal mates…" Sarutobi flipped the first file open and looked at the information that it held.

"Only one caught?" The Sandaime whispered, anger evident in his voice.

"Unfortunately, Sarutobi." Danzo answered with a quick nod. "He managed to escape while his comrade essentially sacrificed himself to allow him the chance to flee back to Iwagakure."

"And seeing as it takes nearly three days for a bird to fly from the border to our location with only minimal stops allotted; it's a guarantee that the man has already crossed into Tsuchi no Kuni…" the Sandaime finished.

Danzo nodded, "Ōnoki will learn of our Jinchuuriki's identity within this coming week."

"…Damn it…"

"Read the other files, Sarutobi;" Danzo urged his counterpart as he turned around and began to head for the door. "You've pushed it away time and time again…But this time, I implore you to consider it. Especially now that Ōnoki will have information on Uzumaki Naruto." With that said, the crippled man left Hiruzen alone in his office; starring at the three folders in his hands as the last few seconds of sunlight became swallowed by the forests and the approaching night.

* * *

Um…Yeah…

So its been a while...(Rubs back of head sheepishly). I can explain why it took me so long…And the reason(s) are as followed:

I almost wrote myself into a plot hole and it took a bit to figure out how to avoid it or, in the least; to place a wooden plank on top of it.  
I've been exceedingly bored as well as stressed as well as being hit by plot bunnies left and right while working(been writing them down on a pad of paper whilst on break or at lunch).  
It got hot and there are no fans in my room save for a stand fan(really loud and annoying) and an old ceiling fan that only works when the light is on. Once the light's off, the fan's off. Oh, and my air mattress(what I sleep on and have been sleeping on for over a year now) finally sprung a hole and due to that, my sleep quality has been in the dumps for the past two weeks or so.  
Oh yeah, work sucks as well; can't forget that.

To answer a few questions:

**The Quills:** I don't want to give them away just yet; but I will say that they're not going to be 'OMGZ AWESOME!' or anything of the sort. They will have their strengths and weaknesses which will be portrayed as the story goes on(and on and on; hopefully). They will evolve as the story goes on though, so be patient.

**Why does Naruto seem kind of…OOC?:** Well, I can't write Canon!Naruto to save my life; and trying to do so puts me off in such a way where I don't like writing him anymore and usually end up taking long breaks. So, what I try to do; and attempting to do, is break his world perspectives to the point where he learns that the way he thinks doesn't always apply and therefore, has to smarten up a bit. Now, he's not going to pull a 180 and start answering calculus questions(mainly because I suck at math and hate it with a passion).

Now, before you review; let me just say that I HATE this chapter with a passion; it was incredibly hard to write and even after reading and re-reading it several times; I don't like it all that much. However, rather than trying to flatten a mountain with a rolling pin and making it perfectly flat; I decided to flatten it as much as I could and then leave the rest-hoping that it doesn't come back and bite me in the butt later. Also, don't expect chapters in the future to be nearly as long as this chapter. Some maybe and some maybe longer-but don't expect them to be. The fact that this chapter is 7,166 words in length makes me think back to _JORN_ and makes me wonder about how I used to write up such long chapters in such short amounts of time…And then makes me realize that I will never do it again, well; not exactly like that.

Anyway, I hope _you_ enjoyed this chapter; a bunch of filler with some plot devices thrown in here and there. Hopefully the next chapter will be easier to write(and it should, considering it's not dealing with Naruto being stuck in prison for the majority of the chapter or dealing with Mizuki and the Hokage's plan(s)).

Also, spelling and grammar will never be perfect; so if you find something; please inform me of the error(s), nicely; and I'll get around to fixing sometime. Thanks.

Write at you later!


	4. Chapter 4

Quills

* * *

With his headband tied around his left knee, Naruto gave himself a sharp nod in the mirror. With a serious, determined expression set on his face, Naruto turned toward this bathroom door and dashed out. _'I'll prove to you Jiji!' _He told himself as he swept out of the front door of his apartment; pausing only slightly to lock and shut it behind him once outside before dashing off again; serious expression still marring his face. _'I'll prove to you that I deserve this!'_

Despite the internal struggle he had had with himself over the last nine or so hours since leaving the Hokage's office yesterday evening; Naruto still agreed with Jiji. He hadn't earned the right to be a Genin; he didn't fully deserve to be a Genin; and while he didn't quite understand why the elderly man had promoted him even after scolding him, he was slightly glad. Even if he hadn't passed the right way, even though he couldn't perform the Bunshin Jutsu like everyone else in his class could; he had worked long and hard to get where he was. If Jiji didn't think that he deserved to be a Genin, then he'd just have to prove him wrong!

-o-

Ōnoki stifled a sigh as he listened to the Taki representative go on and on about lessening the costs of wood and stone that the smaller nation imported from his own larger nation. Despite telling the representative that he wasn't able to do anything about the problem-that only the Daimyo could-the man neither listened nor did he shut up. "And further more Tsuchikage-Sama; with the costs of both wood and stone lowered; we'd be able to shore up our defenses as well as expand slightly westward, away from Konohagakure and closer to you and Iwa!"

"Look, Mugen; I've already told you several times now, I'm not the one who controls either the tariffs or the way that trade is done. The Daimyo controls it, if you want to see about changing that; you'll have to seek a council with him." Ōnoki reiterated once more; feeling the need to pinch the bridge of his nose. "The only thing I do when it comes to matters like this is send men and women to protect and kill…" The younger man paled slightly but still didn't back down. _'If he were a ninja, I'd have a lot more respect for him.'_ That being said, he still felt the need to play nice with him. Though Taki was an extremely small nation; it had a lot of fairly adept shinobi-adept enough to settle small groups of its ninja within a stone throw's distance of Konohagakure's walls; and while Iwa had better counter-spies than their fiery counterparts had, he wasn't willing to risk pissing off the smaller nation; not with Sunagakure making odd movements to the south. Sunagakure had never liked them all that much. If there was something in it for them, than the current Kazekage would more than likely usher his men into conflict-even for a three mile gain. The Dog of War, as Ōnoki preferred to call the man.

"I have already asked for a council with your Daimyo." Mugen informed the Tsuchikage. "He ignored me in favor of vacationing to the north for three months with his family."

Inwardly, Ōnoki wanted to narrow his eyes. No one outside of his son, his granddaughter as well as himself knew that the Daimyo and his family were out of the country; especially not vacationing to the north. "I'm sorry; I didn't know that he left on vacation. He and I aren't especially close." He lied. He and the current Daimyo were fairly close; not best of friends close, but close enough to be invited to his palace for a nice party and several jugs of saké. While keeping a straight face while confronting Mugen, Ōnoki idly wondered how the man knew about the Daimyo's vacation. The man hadn't even told his family that he was taking them on a vacation until _after_ he had informed him of it; to hire a couple of guards-his son and granddaughter. Making a mental note to have the man tailed after dismissing him; Ōnoki opened his mouth to finish their meeting when the door to his office opened roughly inwards.

Snapping his head up to the intruder; Mugen whirling around, right hand reaching down toward his hip for some odd reason; the Sandaime Tsuchikage noted out of the corner of his eye before reapplying his full attention on the intruder.

The man; sweaty, tired and scratched and scuffed; nearly fell to the floor of his office as he panted heavily. Two guards filed into the office behind him; both with weapons drawn, moving to apprehend the man. "T…Tsuchikage-Sama!" The man barked out, his voice rough and gravelly; as if refreshing liquid hadn't touched his lips nor his throat in ages. "I bring urgent news!"

Eyebrows rising slightly, Ōnoki looked from the man to the Taki representative and then back to the intruder. Even if he was intruding, he was definitely a means to escape the representative sooner rather than later. "News you say?" He asked, sounding intrigued by the man's words. "Pray tell, what is so important that you felt like you needed to interrupt a meeting between myself and my guest here?" He nodded to Mugen, who had finally removed his hand from his hip and had begun nodding at his words; lips pressed into a thin, tight line. The interloper did not speak, instead; he narrowed his haggard gaze at the man and other than gasping for air, he remained silent. Instantly noting the action as a silent code between Iwagakure shinobi; he pressed the man further. "Well?"

"…I…" The man dropped to his knees quickly and buried his gaze into the carpeted floor beneath himself. "I am sorry for intruding, Tsuchikage-Sama!" Still panting, the man remained in that position; unmoving.

"…Guards, take him to a detention room." Ōnoki spoke to the two men. "Give him water and stay at the door until I arrive." The two men nodded and walked over to the kneeling man. Grabbing hold of his armpits with their hands, they hoisted the tall man up to his feet and walked him out of the office and down the hall; leaving Ōnoki alone with Mugen. Turning to the Taki native, he smiled a strained smile. "Sorry about the intrusion, Mugen-San…But, as you may or may not know; these things happen."

"…I…Its understandable…" Mugen nodded, a light red hue adoring his cheeks as he smiled a small, embarrassed smile. "Now…Where were we?"

"I believe that we w-" Ōnoki didn't have a chance to finish his sentence as the doors of his office flung inward again, grabbing the attention of both men. In the doorway, was one of the guards; holding his left side painfully as he prepared to address his Kage.

"T…The suspect, Ōnoki-Sama; he's broken free an-and is heading toward the village!"

Frowning deeply, Ōnoki stood up from his chair and stretched his back; popping it in several places, eliciting a dull pain in his lower back. Ignoring it, he addressed his guest; "I'm sorry to cut this meeting short, Mugen-San; but it appears that I am needed elsewhere." He didn't wait for the younger man to reply before turning to the window behind his desk. Opening the window, he sent his injured guard a silent hand gesture before jumping out of the incredibly tall building.

"B-But!" Mugen stuttered, jumping up from his seat and racing around the Tsuchikage's desk and looking out of the window. Instinctively looking down for the Kage, he was surprised to see the small, elderly man streaking through the sky. His lower jaw parted from his upper jaw and worked wordlessly to form a sentence. He failed to do so.

-o-

Reckless plans were not his forte, but if he had to guess; Ōnoki could only guess that the man who had entered his office had really meant what he had told him earlier in his office. _'Though I had meant to interrupt Mugen's floundering negotiations to excuse myself to deal with this man; I had meant to do it a bit later.'_ Mugen, if that was the man's real name; had acted strangely like a decently well trained shinobi when the unnamed man had burst into his office-and for a man who said that he had no formal shinobi training before to act like a seasoned veteran…Either way, he'd let his guards handle 'Mugen' while he searched for the runaway.

The sound of a girl shrieking down below caught his attention. Turning his gaze toward the earth, Ōnoki easily found a speeding individual racing through the village; heading toward the eastern portion of the village. _'I see…You're going _there_…Smart man.'_ Ignoring the screams of several other women as the man on the run jumped over the fences that blocked off the hotsprings from the rest of the village; not bothering once to stop and ogle the women and their features, Ōnoki redirected himself toward the eastern mountain and sped off; hoping to cut the man off.

-o-

"With _HIM?!"_ A familiar voice echoed throughout the classroom as Umino Iruka informed the new members of Team Seven of their partners. The entirety of the class shifted their heads and their gazes to stare at a familiar pink haired girl, who had stood up and vocally objected one of her new teammates-the first to do so yet. "Sasuke-Kun I can see, Iruka-Sensei; but _Naruto?!_ Didn't he fail the graduation exam?"

"Mistakes happen, Haruno-San." Iruka grunted out gruffly, clearly displeased by the girl's reaction. Naruto had, oddly enough; not had an outburst of anger when he had learned that he was on the same team with Sasuke-his rival.

"_Clearly!"_ The girl hissed softly, eliciting quiet giggles from those of her classmates who sat beside her.

Ignoring the girl's outburst, Iruka continued on, "Team Eight will consist of…"

-o-

Panting heavily as he opened the door to an old war hideout, embedded into the side of the eastern mountain that framed the village's eastern edge; Gin dragged himself into the hideout and then turned around and slammed the door behind him. Falling to his knees, his legs finally giving out; the man began to hack and cough harshly.

"You know, you should have at least stayed long enough to partake in both drink and rest before pulling this stunt of yours; Chuunin." The sound of the Tsuchikage made the Chuunin jump fearfully. Throwing himself over, the Chuunin bowed to the hidden figure of the leader of Iwa. "You're very lucky that I just so happen to have these old hideouts stocked with fresh water and edibles." The sound of a wooden cask filling with liquid rushed through the tuckered Chuunin's ears. As the sound of liquid pouring faded into nothingness, the sound of a match striking in the dark filled his ears. A sudden spark and then the pungent odor of burnt sulfur filled the suddenly lit hideout.

Shying his eyes away from the small but bright flame; the Chuunin waited until the light grew slightly; signifying that the flame that the match had created had met a candlewick. Moving his eyes back toward the light, the Chuunin found Ōnoki seated behind a small wooden table, with two small wooden casks full of water. Still on the floor, chest heaving; the Chuunin gave himself several more seconds for his heart to catch up with the rest of his body before trying to stand up on his feet.

It took him nearly two minutes to be able to push himself to his feet.

Sitting down slowly, chest still heaving and sweat pouring down his face; stinging at his eyes; the Chuunin wiped at his eyes with his dirty sleeves. "Tsuchikage-Sama…" He began, bowing his head over his cask of water. "…Sorry for intruding earlier…"

"Think nothing of it, Chuunin." The elderly man grunted. "You may have unintentionally uncovered a mole in my office with your stunt." The Chuunin looked up through bleary eyes, a shocked expression on his face. "Now…" Ōnoki began, grabbing for his cask. "Quench your thirst, my boy…" He took a sip and with his left hand, urged the Chuunin to do the same with his cask. Grabbing at the wooden cup hesitantly, the Chuunin stared at it for a few seconds before bringing the cool liquid to his lips.

Ōnoki watched as the Chuunin emptied the cask in several seconds, not bothering to stop for breath. He grabbed for the spigot that protruded from a large barrel to his left; he silently asked the Chuunin if he wished for more to drink. The younger man nodded almost greedily and gave his cask back to the Tsuchikage. After filling the cask, and giving it back to the Chuunin; Ōnoki settled back into his chair and took another sip of his own cask of water. "So…Tell me, Chuunin…Who are you and what is so important that you felt the need to barge into my office unannounced?"

The Chuunin blushed heavily as embarrassment washed over him. He placed his cask down on the small wooden table and stared down quietly. For almost a minute the duo sat in silence, a small candle flame dancing between them as the younger man collected his thoughts.

"…My name, in Gin…And up until nearly two weeks ago, I had been on a B-Rank mission with my teammate Tai." He began, Ōnoki nodding slowly as he took in the younger man's name. "We were contracted through the Missions Office by means of currier bird. A mission, looking for two accomplished and experienced Chuunin were needed to assist in an individual looking to not only flee from their home village; but to also steal something of value from them as well."

"Who was the contractor?"

"A Chuunin ranked shinobi from Konohagakure, Tsuchikage-Sama." Gin replied, his voice fading slightly as the elderly man sighed irritably. "The Chuunin we met with; two days travel outside of the village, was named Toji Mizuki; and he was looking to flee from Konohagakure with what turned out to be their Scared Scroll of Sealing." Ōnoki's eyes widened.

"That's…Quite a feat for a Chuunin to try and pull off." The Sandaime Tsuchikage mused dryly. He had heard of the scroll, there wasn't a Kage in the world who hadn't. It contained dozens of highly lethal jutsu and sealing techniques graced upon the 'Greatest' of the villages by their now long destroyed allies, the Uzumaki Clan; a clan of Sealing Masters from the now destroyed village of Uzushiogakure. _'What would a Chuunin do with such an item? Sell it?'_ He wondered. He nodded for the younger man to continue.

"…Things went well in the beginning, I suppose…Though, Mizuki never told us exactly what he needed other than for us to provide him with backup." Gin began once more. "In fact, it wasn't until a small blonde haired, blue eyed kid-maybe about ten or so years old; maybe a bit older-came bounding out of the forest surrounding Konoha did he tell us to do anything."

"What did this 'Mizuki' tell you to do, pray tell?"

"He told us to hang back, to aid him when he needed it; and then he went off to confront the kid."

"Why did he confront a boy anyway? Did he tell you why?"

"…The kid was the one who stole the scroll for Mizuki, apparently; Ōnoki-Sama." The Tsuchkage's eyes narrowed slightly. "He used him to steal the scroll and then he planned on killing the kid and fleeing with it. Unfortunately for us all, another Konoha ninja showed up. Umino Iruka."

Digging into his robes, Ōnoki pulled forth a small black book. Opening it up and flipping it to a particular section of the book, he found the name of the man in question. _'Umino Iruka-Chuunin level Academy Instructor. Rank-High C and has a bounty of 9,000 Ryo. Obviously not one of Konoha's more notorious ninja. Still…'_ One ninja could turn the favor of any battle. Placing the book on the table, he nodded for Gin to continue.

"Mizuki tended to Iruka; sliced the back of the man's leg up and left him to bleed out." Ōnoki blinked in confusion.

"Sounds like he had a bit of a superiority complex, to me." The elderly man grunted.

Nodding, Gin continued; "He did, and the kid seemed to grate on him more than the Chuunin did. He called for us to hold the kid in place; though he didn't look too well in the first place, almost as if he was sick or something…Tai and myself rushed out, picked the kid up and waited to see what Mizuki wanted us to do with him. Either use him as a shield just in case more Konoha-Nin showed up or not."

"What did he do?"

"He gloated." Gin stated bluntly. "Walked right up to the kid, the other Chuunin bleeding out behind him; completely ignoring him, just to gloat." Gin frowned, "Though it was extremely childish and stupid, I'm glad that he did…Because…If he hadn't, then we wouldn't have found out that the boy he was planning on killing-a part of his original goal apparently-was a Jinchuuriki."

Ōnoki felt his eyes widen as the information floated into his mind. _'…And with only one Bijuu to attack the village in the last decade or so being the Kyuubi…'_ Ōnoki narrowed his eyes until they were but mere slits; _"Kyuubi no Kitsune..."_

"Aye…"

The two men lapsed into silence. Again, with only the flickering flame dancing atop the candle dancing between the two men; the silence they sat in expanded. For more than ten minutes, the two ninja sat in the candle light; completely silent. "What's his name?" Ōnoki finally asked, breaking the long silence.

"…Who? The kid?" Gin asked. The Tsuchikage nodded. "…I didn't hear the kid's clan name, but his given name is 'Naruto'."

"Naruto, hmm?" The elderly man hummed. Gin nodded.

"…Are you going to kill him?"

"We can't let Konohagakure have such an advantage." The elderly man mused quietly. "However, with both of our Jinchuuriki gone; it would be…_wise_…to try and bring the boy here…Either willingly or not."

"Kidnapping?"

"Maybe…" _'Maybe.'_

-o-

'_What's wrong with this guy?'_ Naruto wondered as he finally took a seat next on Sakura's right. The pinkette had chosen to sit on Sasuke's right, and; not really wanting to sit next to the raven haired boy; he chose to sit next to Sakura, despite her earlier comment about him being on the same team as herself. In front of the trio, stood their Jounin sensei; a man by the name of…Well, come to think of it; all they knew about the man was that his given name was 'Kakashi'. Iruka-Sensei hadn't informed them of his clan name. Hopefully the man would tell them of that.

Of course, that wasn't source of his frustration. No, the source of his frustration was the fact that the man had shown up _four_ hours late to pick them up. _Four!_ No one had done that to them before. No one! So far, it was safe to say that he did not like his new sensei. Casting a quick glance down the line, he was fairly certain that Sasuke felt the same way about the man. "Alright," the man began, gaining the three pre-teens' attention. "Since it is kind of late, I guess we should get this over and done with." Leaning back on the railing that bordered the edge of the academy building; the man dug pointed at Sasuke; "So, why don't you introduce yourself?"

"Sensei," Sakura broke into the conversation. The silver haired man turned his single eye to her and cocked his head slightly; kind of like a dog trying to figure out where a noise was coming from. "Why don't you go first? To show us how to do it?" The man brought a hand to his chin and looked up for a brief second before giving them a very odd and very creepy 'eye' smile.

"Nope." He stated happily. "It's not that difficult," he added. "All I want to know is what your name is, what your dreams are; if you have more than one that is, what you like and what you dislike. Other than that, feel free to add whatever you feel like."

"Are you going to introduce yourself?" Sasuke asked, speaking for the first time since before lunch. The man shrugged his shoulders.

"Maybe…Maybe not." He said calmly. "It'll depend on how I feel."

"_I'll give you something to feel!"_ Naruto felt his left ear twitch slightly as Sakura's whisper filtered into his ear canal. Glancing at her out of the corner of his eyes, he thought; for a moment, that the girl's pupils had glowed slightly. Shaking his head slightly, blaming it on the time of day and lack of sleep; he returned his attention to the silver haired man in front of him.

"…Fine…" Sasuke grunted. Folding his hands together in front of him, the raven haired pre-teen opened his mouth; "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I like training and I like cats." Both Sakura and Naruto found themselves giving the sole Uchiha member an odd look. "I dislike people who are annoying;" the boy cast a glance at both Naruto and Sakura; both of whom who flushed slightly, "and I dislike people who are late for no reason." That time, the raven haired boy glanced at their newly appointed sensei, who merely smiled at him and waved at him. Sasuke let out a light, disappointed sigh before continuing; "My dream…To restore my clan…My desire…To kill a certain man." The tone of Sasuke's voice dropped several octaves, sending shivers up both Sakura and Naruto's spine. Oddly enough, their new sensei nodded and moved on from him and pointed at Sakura.

"Now you, Miss Pink…" The girl snapped her head to look at the man and glared at him irritably.

"My name is Haruno Sakura-Not Miss Pink" she stressed, earning a smile from the man standing in front of the group. "I like flowers and flower pressing…I also like…" She glanced off to her left and a barely audible squeal reached all three males' ears. "I dislike Ino-Buta and Naruto!" Frowning, Naruto dropped his head slightly. "My dream is to one day be the wife of a great man and raise a family…" Her gaze once again veered off in Sasuke's direction and another, louder; squeal filled the air. Naruto barely contained a snort of amusement when he saw the raven haired boy scoot away from the pinkette on his left; who immediately pushed herself closer to him. The little show was ended when their new sensei cleared his throat. Both pre-teens stopped and looked up at the silver haired man.

"…Amusing, I guess…" He stated dryly. He turned his attention from Sakura to Naruto. "And now you, Whiskers."

"Whiskers…What am I, a cat?" Naruto muttered to himself, earning a snort from Sasuke. Naruto eyed him darkly for several seconds before looking back up at the Jounin in front of him. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I like ramen and training! I dislike the three minutes it takes for instant ramen to cook and I dislike, backstabbing assholes!" Kakashi nodded slightly. "My dream is to become Hokage, but my short term goal is to become someone deserving of the rank of Genin!"

"Naruto-Baka…" Sakura said with a sigh, shaking her head. Sasuke beside her snorted softly.

"Short term goals are a good thing for a shinobi to have…Actually," The Jounin paused for a second; "they're good for _everyone_ to have. It keeps you on track and gives you something to aim for." He turned to look at the blonde and smiled his creepy 'eye-smile' at him; "If Naruto-Kun wants to aim to become someone worthy of being called a Genin, then good for him!" He glanced at the other two members of the Genin squad before continuing; "It's actually much harder to be a Genin than you think, Pink."

"My name is _not_ PINK!" Sakura snarled at the man, shocking both of her two teammates, who snapped their heads in her direction; eyes wide, traces of fear held within. "And besides! I'm three times the Genin that he is anyway! I didn't fail my Genin Exams three times!"

Kakashi watched as the blonde's head drooped instinctively and inwardly shook his head. _'…Really now…'_ "Can you prove that to me?" He asked the girl, who nodded. His smile changed and a heavy weight fell upon the three newly minted graduates as the man snickered behind his mask. "Well then, you'll have your chance to prove that you're truly three times better than your quiet blonde teammate here…Tomorrow, five am; at training field seven; we'll be having a uh…bit of a re-fresher exam…" He held up a hand before anyone could interrupt, "You can pass, or you can fail…But I warn you…" He bent closer to the three of them, eyeing Sakura closely; forcing the girl to lean back slightly, "…I've been assigned to seven different Genin squads to act as their sensei…And I've failed every single one of them." He stood up straight as the gravity of the situation hit them, looks of shock lighting their faces. "If you can prove to me that you are in fact deserving of your new position, then I'll acknowledge you. If not, you go back to the academy and go through remedial classes for the next six months, where you will be given one more chance. If you fail that second chance; that's it, no more." He turned on his heels and hopped up on to the metal railing that separated the edge of the building from nothingness.

"And, to fulfill my end of our earlier bargain; Pink: My name is Hatake Kakashi; I like several things and I dislike several things. As for dreams? Well, let's just say that due to your earlier words, I don't feel like informing you of them." He gave a fake sniffle, "You might make fun of me too…" He turned and smiled at the three fearful Genin; all of whom still wore looks of shock and horror as they gazed upon him. "Remember," He began, waving to them all, "tomorrow morning, five am; training field seven…Oh, and if I were you, I would chose not to eat breakfast…You may just regret doing so."

-o-  
The Next Morning  
Training Ground Seven – 10:14am  
-o-

"Ah, good…I see you're all here…" Kakashi began as he meandered on to the training field. His simple, laid back approach served to further enrage the tired, hungry, and exceedingly angry Genin who had taken to do their own dealing why they waited for him over the last five hours before he arrived. Sasuke, who had been in the middle of going over his hand seals; at a reasonably impressive speed for a Genin, Kakashi had observed; had stopped on the 'Tora' seal. Sakura, who had been leaning against the trunk of one of the surrounding trees; had actually fallen asleep and had awoken when Naruto, who had been doing squats, pushups and sit ups for who knows how long; stopped and poked her side to awaken her from her nap. His efforts awarded him with a swift, pain filled punch to the face; courtesy of the pinkette.

She had also been the only one to open her mouth to greet him too; "What the hell?" She snapped, pointing at him angrily. "You said _five!_ Not _ten!"_ To her left and her right; both boys nodded in agreement.

"Yeah…I could have gotten an extra couple hours of sleep…" Naruto gripped, idly rubbing his left wrist as he set himself straight after Sakura's blow. Inwardly, the Jounin wondered silently to himself why the boy was rubbing his wrist and not his face.

'_Trying to save face?'_ He wondered. He shrugged. "Well, my alarm clock died in the middle of the night; so, I slept right past five…My bad…" He stated with a smile.

"…I smell a load of bullshit…" Naruto whispered to his two teammates, who nodded back. Kakashi, who had heard the whisper; closed his eye, let out a sigh and shook his head.

"At any rate," he pushed on, ignoring Naruto's comment; "we're running out of time…So," he took out a stop watch and placed in on top of one of the three training posts in the clearing and then smiled back at them. "Your test is to try and take one of these," he held up two brass bells by two thin strands of thread that he had taken out of his left pant pocket and dangled them in front of the three pre-teens; "by noon."

"That's it?" Naruto asked. The man nodded. "…Wait a minute…There are only two of them and three of us…"

"Figure it out did you?" The man asked, hoping that the blonde had figured out a small portion of the test. When the blonde slowly shook his head, the Jounin sighed. "…There are three of you but there are only two bells. You MUST obtain a bell to pass; but you cannot share a bell with anyone else. If you don't procure a bell, then you return to the academy while I train whoever manages to snag a bell…Understand?"

"But that means that one of us is going back to the academy no matter what…" Sakura noted. Kakashi smiled at her and nodded.

"Exactly." He grunted. "Only the best of the best are allowed to continue being a shinobi of Konohagakure…" He tied the bells to his waistline as he spoke. "Are you the best of the best?" Sasuke, who had tensed sometime earlier, lunged at the Jounin; right hand extended as he aimed for a bell. The man side-stepped him and allowed the Genin to sail by him. The raven haired pre-teen fell face first into the ground. "…Close but no cigar…" Kakashi quipped. "Try coming at me with the intent to kill next time…That may do the trick." With that, the man pressed a button on the watch and with a short but shrill beep, the man disappeared into the surrounding forest.

-o-

"I'm sorry about the wait, Mugen." Ōnoki offered his apology as he walked through the door to the chamber where Mugen had been waiting in. "I hope that you were treated well during my absence?"

"Mmmrm!" The man groaned as he struggled against the stone chair he had been tied to before the Tsuchikage's return. "RRM!"

"I'm sorry," The elderly man stated as he turned to face the man, a dark smile forming over his face as he watched the man before him. "But I don't understand what dialect you're speaking. What is that anyway? Sock Speak?" The guard to his left, hidden in the dim light of the room sniggered slightly as the elderly man made light of the infiltrator's impromptu gag. "Fun and games aside, Mugen; I think it's time that you and I had a real heart-to-heart chat…What do you say?"

"Heff-RUMF!" The man roared through the sock.

"Oh my…You're name's not Mugen? Oh dear…" Ōnoki shook his head, clicking his tongue slightly. "You know, it's a good thing that my granddaughter's not here, 'Mugen'." The Tsuchikage stated as he reached for a small block of wood and a metal prod; the bound man's eyes widening slightly as he saw the instruments in the small man's hands. "She's not one for torture; at least not yet, anyway. She'd sooner shove this little rod here through your nether regions and smack you with this block of wood until you spill your mind's worth of information. I, on the other hand; have the time and the patience to 'play' around with you."

Tock!

The bound man looked at the small man's hands and found the metal rod pulling away from the block of wood.

"I hope you like music 'Mugen'," Tock! "I know I do…"

-o-

Depressed, disheveled, battered and bruised; the three Genin hopefuls moped on the grass of the semi-clean training ground while their Jounin sensei sat on a wooden post, powering down the second and final lunch box he had surprised them with half way through the test. "Any questions?" He asked in between scooping a small pinch of rice into his mouth and swallowing the previous scoop.

"…" The three Genin cast their looks elsewhere. Sasuke looked down at the ground, at his fists to be more precise; and glowered silently. Sakura sat staring at the insides of her eyelids, trying to and failing to hold back tears. Naruto sat behind the two of them, wrists twitching idly as he looked out in front of him; broken and stunned.

"No?" Kakashi asked before stuffing another scoop into his mouth. Silence reigned as he chewed. "Well, if you ask me;" he began as he set the lunch box down on his lap and readjusted his face mask, "you all should be sent back to the academy. It's painfully clear that this year's class has a lot of problems. None of you worked together even though the offer had been made at least twice; and even further, one of you had been more than willing to use lethal force to kill me, without caring if you killed your own teammates' who were in the line of fire and not warning them in some fashion."

"Uchiha, you're a loner; but in a team formation, you can't be. You have to rely on your teammates just as they need to rely on you in return." The boy's eyes darted from his fists to the man for a split second before taking a deep breath and returning to stare at his hands. "Pink, you need to realize that Sasuke's not always going to be there for you to rescue you-even though I feel as if he made himself perfectly clear today that he doesn't give a damn whether or not you're in harm's way or not-and toughen yourself up. You also need to be willing to work with Naruto. Trust me when I say that there are worse people to be teamed up with and you will have to work with one of them sooner or later." The girl's shoulders slumped even further and her sniffling became louder for a split second. "Also, you need to take at least half of what you learned from books, and throw them at the wall. Enemies aren't going to wait for you to run through a mental list of what you can do, what they can do and what they should or should not be able to do. Quick thinking, Pink. Quick thinking."

Turning to the last member of the failed team, Kakashi shook his head. "And you, Whiskers; you're driven, that much is clear. Being driven to do something is fine and dandy but you need to realize that despite being driven to do something; whether it's a goal or a mission objective; sometimes, you need to assess the danger. You need to be able to figure out if something is way too dangerous to complete on your own or even too dangerous for your team to handle. There is no shame in fleeing a fight, especially if it saves the lives of your allies or relays information about an enemy to them."

"As it stands right now, I wouldn't be comfortable in sending you back to the academy. Sure, you may pick something up within the next six months; but I doubt it." He made a signal and three different copies of himself appeared behind him. "And since I'm your Jounin sensei until the end of the day; or, until I get back to the Hokage's Office and tell him of my decision; I am, as of right now; revoking your rights as Genin and expelling you from the corps." All three heads snapped up to face him, too stunned by the man's words to do much of anything about the clones closing the gap between them and taking their headbands from them before returning to the silver haired man on the training post. "I bid you farewell as you try and find something else to turn your lives toward." With that said, the man and his clones vanished, leaving three stunned, humiliated and now normal civilian pre-teens alone.

* * *

So, yeah; it's been quite a while, hasn't it? I have little to no explanation as to why it's been so long, other than slaving away at work to get a newer laptop that's already having some BSOD issues(hopefully that will be fixed sooner than later) and dealing with a lot of stress, mild depression and family issues. For instance, my Mother was evicted from her house a couple of months ago and I had to go help her move to my Brother-in-Law's parent's house. Then, a couple of weeks ago; my Brother-in-Law's Grand Father had a mild stroke that has left some bleeding of the brain and he's pretty much having bouts of temporary insanity-he keeps thinking that his wife is still alive, even though she's been dead for almost six/seven years. Top that all off with car trouble, idiot managers and supervisors at work(along with idiot customers) and that's what my life has been about for the last few months.

Two good things came out of this period though. I got Minecraft, which I will be using every now and again as a template for worlds/grounds within my stories both present and future; and due to one of my co-worker's completing his short story(not ready to send it out yet though), I've been feeling kind of froggy and started seriously writing up short stories myself. I haven't written anything like that in years; stopping a novel because it was, as I found out later on; way too much like the Lord of the Ring series-something I had neither watched or read when I penned the idea but did about twenty-three thousand words into my novel.

As for now, my plans are un-intelligible. I have no idea which story will be updated next, but I do have a new pet piece of fiction I'm writing for this site that I've been working on for a half a month now(I would write it as a short story for revenue; but I fear that I may be sued because of what it is, so I'm putting it up here).

Any who, I'm done for the night/day. In fact, I should be in bed sleeping the night time hours away seeing as I have to be up in less than seven hours to get ready to go to work for nine hours. Nine hours packed full of dealing with idiots…Damn, I wish I had studied more when I was in high school.


End file.
